Trials of Love: A Jinchuriki Story
by finder77
Summary: WTF is GOING ON! Mitsuko's a jinchuriki with a complicated life. What do you get when you mix jinchuriki, a biju, a crazy necromancer, Akatsuki, and a bunch of other ninja? GaaXOC ItachiXOC SasuXOC Action packed. YAOI and RANDOMNESS WARNING
1. Chapter 1

_Finder77: Hey, Everybody! I just wanted to let you guys know that this is the sequel to The Story of Gaara and Mitsuko but you don't have to read TSOG&M to understand it. And that makes The Story of Gaara and Mitsuko the prequel to this story. I don't think it matters which story you read first but The Story of Gaara and Mitsuko is first chronologically. This story occurs after the timeskip, so it's two years later. Therfore, it does have some spoilers. I'm putting TSOG&M on hiatus for now because I'm editing it._

_Ok, so this is actually content from a forum made by me. It's from my RP forum and I have a bunch of co-writers. The people who are involved in this story are Fullmidget Alchemist, Kai19, and Sneere. Thanks to them 'cause they rock!_

_

* * *

The sun shown gently through a tree, catching in free, long blonde hair and making it shine like white gold. Thick lashes fluttered softly against peaches and cream colored skin. It was midday and the sun was warm. Perfect time for a nap: Peaceful. There were even birds chirping off in the distance. Calloused fingers twitched slightly in sleep. _

_A young woman, still in her late teens, sat under a maple tree, asleep. She was the average size and build of any kunoichi but the hitai-ate worn around her waist with the scratch through the Konoha** (1) **symbol there, declared her a missing-nin. Aside from that, she wore usual ninja clothes: Dark grey crop pants and a black tank top covered by chain-mail shirt which was now lying beside her._

_She stirred slightly in her sleep._

_The sky was covered by dark clouds that would occasionally light with lightening and roll with thunder. Azuki Oshira** (2)** stood on top a concrete building in the ruins of the Village Hidden in the Air. The wind whipped wildly around her and the man before her. He was tall and pale with long black hair. He stood with his back to her on the very edge of the very tall building. She took a single step forward and stopped when he looked slowly over his shoulder, red eyes almost glowing, and he wore a permanent scowl. Azuki sat frozen as she waited to see what would happen. The man smiled slightly at her and then took a small step forward and disappeared over the edge of the rotting structure._

_"Itachi-san!" She yelled, her voice drowned out in the wind and rushed forward. And then the sky was falling._

_There was an audibly 'thunk' and Azuki sat up straight with a yelp. Grey-blue eyes, almost the color of silver, looked around wildly for the culprit. She spotted the fiend and held the yellow-green apple in her hand and yelled, "Oh my GAWD! Gravity sucks!" Azuki sighed. She got up and stretched, slipping on her chain-mail shirt. She grabbed her cloak and hat and hid them in her bag before heading into town. She had an appointment to keep after all._

_

* * *

_Satsuki Mitsuko **(3)** stepped to the edge of the island she called home. _It's time I pay a friend a visit_, she thought as she summoned a giant sea turtle. She carfully stepped onto it's back as it floated away from the village hidden in the Light. _Hmm_, she thought, _I wonder how many days I can make it in, this time?_ She lay down on the turtles back: stretching herself out and taking off her jacket so she could catch some rays on her back and shoulders. _Not that I don't already have a summer tan_, she said to herself. _Ih, it'll be dark soon anyways_.  
"Please, bring me to the edge of the Land of Fire," she told the turtle. "I can walk from there."  
"Sure," said the turtle. He swam along at a brisk speed so the ride only lasted a few hours. Mitsuko thanked the turtle and began her trek; heading at a quick pace towards Suna, only stopping in Konoha along the way.

* * *

Two blondes sat at a dinner together in the heart of the Earth country. 

"It kind of brings back memories, un..." One of the figures said quietly to his partner: His new partner, since the death of Sasori. Deidara didn't mind getting the newbie, she had been recommended by Itachi after all. Nor did he mind that she was female but... His poor Sasori... Deirara sighed. Oh well.

"Yeah, I guess you could say that," Azuki replied as she took a bite out of her stick of dango. 'Wow,' She thought to herself looking out the window to her left, 'It's already getting dark outside. That's nice. Better cover. Hmm, I wonder if Itachi likes this kind of dango…'

Deidara stood up suddenly and straightened out his clothes. They had dressed casually for the occasion, "I suppose we should get going before we get in trouble, un."

Azuki quickly finished off her dango and got up as well, "Yes, but I'm sure Sir Leader will understand if we make a small pit stop," she said with a sweet smile, accepting the gentlemanly arm offered to her.

"Yes, because food is very important," Deidara started as they left.

A waiter began to chase after them, "Excuse me sir! You haven't paid yet. Sir, madam!"

Another waiter went over to inspect the table just incase they had left the money there on the table and the other waiter had simple not seen it. What he found there was not payment. What it was took his mind a moment to process. He gasped when it did but it was too late.

The sound of Deidara's bomb going off in the restaurant and the destruction it caused was like music in the background to a beautiful evening. And true to that it was. Warm and full of stars, shining with moonlight and the burning buildings the fire had spread to behind them.

Deidara slipped on his coat and as he helped Azuki into hers he asked, "Where was I?"

"Food is very important," Azuki reminded with a smile as she placed her hat in her head.

"Ah yes. Food is very important," the blonde man continued, slipping on his own hat.

"And so is..."Azuki added.

"Art, un," he finished.

The two strolled down the street and decided the night was still young and deserved not to be wasted and made one more pit stop to the town's Museum of Modern and Classic Art.

* * *

It was the middle of the night and Itachi Uchiha sat as still as stone, face its usual blank mask with a hint of a scowl. One would never know the gnawing nervousness that threatened to crawl into his mood and fester if not for the fingers drumming against his biceps, unbeknownst to the Uchiha himself. Kisame suppressed a sigh as he watched his partner fight off a fit of worry. Gods forbid that anyone suggest Itachi-san of showing signs of nervousness. 

Kisame was about to go to sleep and leave his partner to brood alone when they heard a noise in the kitchen/mess hall as someone tripped over something, possible a person by the sounds of it.

"Watch it, un! Geez, are you wasted or something, un?"

"Shut up! You're the genius that blew up the bird on the way back, AGAIN!"

Kisame and Itachi stood in the door way to the kitchen and smirked.

"Hello there, Deidara, Azuki." Kisame spoke, drawing attention to them.

Itachi snorted in greeting and asked, "What are you doing? It's late."

"Itachi-san," Azuki blushed and got up to greet him, daring to hug him. But rather then shove her away he allowed the gesture, smiling slightly, but did not return it, instead slipping a single arm around her waist. "I missed you Ita-san," Azuki said while nuzzled Itachi's neck. He fought with the blood trying to make its way onto his face when he noticed Kisame and Deidara watching them carefully, smirking. Deidara even dared to giggle.

Itachi ignored him, "It's late. Let's go to bed." Itachi said, taking the now sleepy and slightly drunk Azuki to his room with him, nuzzled soundly in his arms.

"Sure, you do that Itachi-san," Kisame teased and had to place his hands over Deidara's mouth to help the drunken blonde suppress his laughter. Crush or no, Itachi was still scary.

Once in Itachi's room Azuki moved into the bathroom and slipped into a pair of old pj's Itachi had gotten from somewhere.

When she came out Itachi was already in bed, resting, not asleep it yet, but resting.

Azuki smiled and got under the covers with him, she carefully wrapped her arms around him and was delighted when the gesture was returned if a bit more roughly. She blushed and before giving into her tired body for the night she whispered, "Itachi, I... Love you."

Itachi watched her a moment longer as she slept before whispering into the deaf and darkened room, "I know..."

* * *

Mitsuko had rented a room at a hotel in Konoha. It wasn't a cheap room but money didn't concern her. She threw her stuff and most of her weapons onto the floor near the bed. She'd only be staying one night so she didn't feel the need to unpack. She checked her hair in the bathroom mirror before leaving with only a small blue bag with her essentials and money to go to Ichiriku. She made sure the door was locked and headed off. 

It was a busy night in Konoha. It must be tourist season or something, Mitsuko thought. She walked up to the counter of the ramen shop and sat down next to a blonde-headed ninja who was currently scarfing down his fourth bowl.

Naruto gulped down the remains of the bowl of ramen and ordered another. He turned to the teenage girl beside him, a year over his own fifteen, "Hey! What's up? How've you been? Are you staying long?"

Blue eyes turned to meet his own, brushing a long, sandy blonde strand of hair behind her ear before answering, "No. I'm just staying for the night. Then I'm headed to Sand."

Naruto snickered, "Oh, I see. Your going back to see Gaara, right?"

Mitsuko Satsuki blushed, "Well… Yes… I haven't seen him in a while so I thought I'd visit him."

Naruto blinked. "But didn't you just see him, like, three weeks ago?"

Mitsuko blushed some more, "Well... Yes but..." Naruto started laughing loudly. "Shut up! I just want to see how he is! Is that okay with you? Can I spend some time with my boyfriend?" She asked sarcastically.

"It's fine Mitsuko, just enjoy the ramen," He said and went back to eating his meal.

Mitsuko took his advice and paid attention to her own dinner. In fact she had two more bowls before she paid the tab and left. But not without hugging Naruto goodbye, of course.

"Night, Mitsuko!" The blonde boy waved.

"Bye!" She waved back and began heading back to her room at the hotel where she was staying. About halfway there she had the faint feeling of someone following her. She moved a bit faster without looking back. She picked up footsteps with her heightened sense of hearing. Someone was definetely following her. She stopped: There was no point to this. She turned sharply and growled, hackles raised, "What the hell do you want from me? I know you're there. I can smell you for crying out loud!" She performed a quick jutsu and the street was lit with a light from her left hand. _Now you can't hide in the shadows,_ she thought.

Mitsuko blinked, a little confused when she was confronted by a small child. He was very young. Couldn't be older then ten. His face was still round but pale and his black hair was long and well-kept in a pony-tail; not messy as a child's should be. The eyes were squinted in a smile that seemed sweet but distinctly fake, like Naruto's sometimes would be.

The boy seemed to sense this for he dropped the smile for a smirk and his pale blue eyes were certainly not childish but sharp and aware. His voice was high and clear as a young boys should be but his words… "So, the dog still has its acute sense of smell, even when in the body of a human."

Mitsuko gasped, and even though the boy remained in front of her she still felt a small, cool finger press into her back were her five pointed star-shaped seal was located: The one that contained the Gobi No Houkou within herself, the five tailed dog.

She turned sharply around but there was no one there and the boy remained in front of her. She growled slightly but he continued, not the least bit disrobed, "I figured you would though. I just wanted to annoy you really. Even I get bored. Don't worry; I'm mostly here for supplies. Business and such. Here and Sand are really the best places for it. Which reminds me, I hear Shukaku's has been separated from his host." He raised an eyebrow at her, unwilling to admit he really was curious.

Mitsuko relaxed some, though still annoyed buy hey, he was usually like this, "Hey, Kai. (4) Good to see you to," she greeted tiredly. "Yeah, Shukaku's free," Mitsuko replied while leaning against the wall of a dark, closed-off ally. She couldn't see as well as she knew Kai could, but she was hoping she wouldn't have to, "What's more is the container lived through the ordeal. By the way, the new look is nice but can you change back now? Oh, and he still kicks ass by the way." She smiled thinking about Gaara.

"I'm sure your thrilled," said a deepened voice as a ring of light moved over the boy who turned into a 6 ' 2 young man with pale skin and long, straight black hair held back in a pony tail. He placed his hands on his hips over his black silk pants that matched his silk slippers and hung low assisting in revealing his muscled stomach along with the blue silk shirt that was several times too small.

"Would this be more appropriate?" Kai** (1) **asked with a slight accent and a smug look, tightening the band in his hair, "It's just so much easer when you're a kid. People hardly notice ya, ya know? So... Shukaku is out and prisoner to the Akatsuki and the boy holding him actually lived through the ordeal." Kai yawned as though very bored with then whole thing, "You realize this means they'll probably be comin' for ya? Me as well. Ya better be careful. As far as I know, I'm the only Biju that remains unsealed." He leaned to look out into the near empty street, "Are ya stayin' here to or are ya headin' out?"

What Kai said about the Akatsuki had made Mitsuko a little anxious. Mostly because she was sure it was true. She didn't want her biju, Houkou, gone. Especially not with Akatsuki. _I should be careful_, she agreed. "I am staying here. In a hotel. But I'm leaving tomorrow for Suna... Hmm... Did you get taller since I last saw you? What about you? Where are you headed? Do you have a place to stay?"

Kai rolled his eyes, "Do I ever have a place to stay? I can sleep in a tree or somethin'. I'll handle it. I wasn't really planning on stayin' long. Just long enough to sell some things I picked up in my travels: Mostly weapons an' such. Ninjas are always in the market for those. I need money somehow. But if you're travelin' soon, you better be careful. The humans know better than to come after an unsealed demon. We can access all our chakra easily. You containers can't. I might as well follow you 'til you get there. Can't have more of us gettin' captured. I don't really care 'bout Shukaku, but I doubt Kyuubi'd forgive me if I let you get captured, too." Kai leaned up against one of the buildings. "You know where I could sell some stuff and get some food?"

TBC...

_**

* * *

Disclaimer: I don't own anything from Naruto. Just the characters I made up, like Mitsuko.**_

_(1) Konoha is the Leaf village, where Naruto lives._

_(2) This character is the property of **Fullmidget Alchemist**_

_(3) This character is property of** Finder77**_

_(4) This character is property of **Kai19**._

**_Please Review!_**


	2. Chapter 2

Finder77: I wanted to let everyone who read the first chapter know, that I changed it a little from the first time I posted it. Okay, let me remind you all that this is a rp-based story and I don't own Naruto. Thanks for the review, Cast14! XD

* * *

Azuki woke up drowsily to bury her face in Itachi's chest, but was rewarded with a subconscious 'Hrm…' from Itachi.

'_I should let him rest_.' she thought. '_He never gets enough sleep_.' She kissed him on the cheek and slung her feet over the side of the bed and smoothed out her pajamas. Yawning, she walked down the hall into the kitchen where Kisame and Zetsu was sitting, reading the paper and whatnot.

Zetsu saw her enter the room and said to her "Ah, Azuki-chan, I see you're awake. Deidara is still sleeping."

"Sleeping? More like 'in a state of subconscious dead-ness' if you ask me," Kisame said. "I looked into his room after you guys got home, and my first thought was that Deidara died in his sleep," he stirred his coffee.

"How'd you know he wasn't dead?" Azuki asked.

"He started sleep-talking... He said 'Hiruko looks like Tayuya's hat'... And I don't even know who Tayuya is!" Kisame sputtered. Azuki and Zetsu couldn't help but laugh. Tobi, who had popped out of: The toaster? Somewhere? started laughing too.

"Hnn... What's so funny…?" Itachi stood in the kitchen doorway, in all his boxer-shorted, messy-haired glory. His eyes were dark blue; almost black, instead of their regular red-sharingan.

"Tobi's stuck in the toaster! Come see!" Zetsu laughed. Seeing the Uchiha's black gaze, he abruptly stopped. "Oops... Uh... Sorry Itachi... I didn't mean..." Itachi merely stared blankly ahead.

"Itachi-san!" Azuki swept over to Itachi and threw her arms around him. "Good morning…" she lightly kissed him, and smiled. Although Itachi couldn't see what was going on, he blushed slightly at the thought of Zetsu, Kisame and Tobi watching him.

"Hello Itachi-san!" Tobi waved from the toaster. Itachi waved in the general direction he heard Tobi's voice come from. Azuki held his arm and led him to the table, where he took his usual seat and began stirring a cup of coffee (Bawls Coffee). She then started making breakfast for herself and the other Akatsukis. This morning it consisted of… You guessed it! Pancakes!** (1)**

Much later in the day, after feeding everyone breakfast, and waking up (dragging out of bed) Deidara, Azuki looked over the pages for missions. _'Bo-ring... These sound like the stuff Hidan and Kakuzu would be sent to do...'_ she chuckled. Grabbing Deidara by the arm, she darted towards the door. Itachi blocked her path.  
"Hold on a second. Where are you guys going? You don't have any mission to do."  
Azuki pulled him aside and whispered, "I'm gonna go visit Konoha. Then maybe stop by Sunagakure or something. I'm bored, work with me here!" He put his finger over her lips.  
"It's fine with me, I just wanted to know," he said.  
"You're just being nosey," Azuki teased.  
"Nosey? I should think not," he kissed her briefly, then pulled away. "Have fun."  
So the two Akatsukis set off for Konohagakure.

* * *

The two Akatsuki had arrived, or were at least on the Konoha border. Azuki promptly changed her appearance to match that of her old self, the one that had previously lived in Konoha, through jutsu. Deidara merely took off his coat, folded it up, and put it in Azuki's backpack.  
"Ready to go?"  
Deidara nodded.

* * *

"Hmm," sighed Mitsuko. "You want to know where to sell weapons and get food? I was just at a ramen place: You could eat there. Personally I don't know where the best spot to sell weapons is. You might be able to sell them to a local weapons shop, the ninja acadamy, or the Hokage, depending on how lethal they are. What kind of weapons did you get?"

"And just so you know, I've learned to access my chakra easily enough," a smile lit up her face. "Sure I might not be able to defeat you or Naruto, but I could take down some Akatsuki. It's nice of you to offer to follow me to Suna, but I'm just reminding you I'm leaving tomorrow. Don't underestimate me."

Suddenly, two blondes stepped out of the darkness.  
"So, you think you could take out some Akatsuki, eh? Well, I'd like to see that happen," Azuki said, slightly annoyed. Her partner stood beside her, cracking his knuckles.  
"Who the hell are you?" Mitsuko said. "Wait... You guys are Akatsuki!" she readied herself in a fighting stance.  
"Hey now, we didn't come here to start a fight but I'm sure we won't have any problem finishing one," Deidara said, holding up his mouth-hand, which was chewing at some clay. "After all, what better way to score bonus points with Sir Leader than to bring back two more jinchuuriki?"

Azuki concealed four senbon behind her back, one between each finger of her left hand. She glanced at Deidara, who nodded. Suddenly, the blonde man opened his hand to reveal a small clay bird, which flew over to the two jinchuuriki.  
"What the hell is-" Kai stopped abruptly as the bird, which was suspended in front of them, started growing as the chakra pushed its way out of its clay shell. "LOOK OUT, IT'S GONNA BLOW!" he and Mitsuko dived for the shelter of a nearby bush just as the bird exploded. They were promptly bombarded by Azuki's senbon. The four needles missed them, landing on the ground around them. Mitsuko stood up.  
"Hah, is this all Akatsuki can do? You only hit around our feet!"  
Azuki looked misceviously at them, "Who says that wasn't where I was aiming?" she made a hand sign, and the senbon detonated around the feet of the jinchuuriki.  
"Argh!" Mitsuko yelled, the fragments of the explosion lodging themselves in her legs. The two Akatsuki chuckled.  
"Now, have your fighting needs been sated?" the young girl asked, transforming back into her Akatsuki uniform. Deidara had already taken his coat out of Azuki's backpack and was buttoning it up. "Or do we need to beat you within an inch of death?" Azuki kneeled down, smiling cockeyed at the female jinchuuriki.  
"Bastards," the girl spat, hoisting her feet up and attempting to sweep the young akatsuki's legs out from under her. Azuki dodged, and threw an exploding tag down towards her. Mitsuko dodged, and threw a barrage of shuriken towards the Akatsukis.

Kai frowned and rolled his eyes before seeming to melt into his own shadow and fade away only to begin reappearing in random places around the Akatsuki. "Did you just call me a jinchuuriki? I'm not some stupid demon locked in a weak fool of a human, an' I really don't give a damn what you or your leader guy wants. I just wanna eat an' sleep an' maybe score some cash." Annoyed at being interrupted, begins lodging kunai covered in instant exploding tags around them and in them, like behind their knees and mid-back, hard-to-reach places, causing enough of an explosion to grab the dog and get away.

"I don't feel like fighting," said Kai after they'd gained some distance. "I don't see any reason why I gotta get involved just 'cause you had to boast. I didn't say you weren't strong, idiot. I said to be careful, an' that'd I'd come along to make sure you were okay. But if you wanna prove it, go fight those two alone. I got no fight with them, so I'm stayin' outta it. I got better stuff to do. Besides, I might not hang out here enough, but shouldn't those elite guys be comin' soon? You really wanna get caught around 'em? I'd rather not have people houndin' me, thanks." Kai turned away, and started to head farther into the village.

_I so could've taken those guys_, thought Mitsuko. _The only reason I didn't is because it's dark, and I get most of my powers from the sun_. Mitsuko sighed inwardly. _It'd be so much easier if it had been light out._ Then Mitsuko realized Kai was walking away. "Wait! Argh!" yelled Mitsuko. Kai stopped but only breifly enough so Mitsuko could catch up to him. "Where are you going?" she asked.

Kai just shrugged. "Well, I still gotta sell at least somethin', and get somethin' to eat. I'm thinkin' sushi. I know it's expensive, but a dragon roll sounds good about now..." Grinning at his own joke, he reached into his bag and pulled out some kunai and shuriken. "Got 'em in Cloud."

"I think I'll go back to my room. I already ate and... Ooh, shiny weapons! And imported!" Mitsuko smiled. "I'll buy some! Here!" She unclipped a blue bag off her shoulders and rummaged around in her purse before handing Kai a stack of money twice as much as he would have sold the handful of weapons she took.

Kai put the rest of the weapons back into his bag; still in shock. "Where did you get all this money? Was that all you had?"

"Tch, No way! I still have plenty left. I got it from Taiyogakure **(2)**. My dad IS the Taiyokage, you know."

Kai stared at the money, then grined and put it away. "Well, looks like I can save the rest of my weapons for some other time. An' since they're from Cloud, an' they pride themselves on makin' the best, you know they'll last ya a good long time. I'll probably eat, go see who I can mess with, then get some sleep. Just wake me up before you leave, 'kay? Who knows, maybe I'll run into Kyuubi's container around here! Never met him face-to-face before, just watched him fight a little. Not bad." Kai looked around until he saw what he hopeed might be a sushi stand. "Ooh. Dragon roll callin' my name. See ya later, Light Brat." Kai made his way to the restaurant, having not meant the name as an insult, just a tease, and used his teary ultra-chibi eyes to guarantee him a table and food, even though they have a strict 'no kids without parents' rule. Kai munched happily on his food, ignoring everyone's stares.

"Bye," Mitsuko smiled. _Some things never change_, she thought, as she walked the rest of the way back to the hotel she was staying at.

* * *

Kai finished off his Dragon roll before heading out, looking around until he found a tree that had a lot of familiar chakra around it, and slashes going up the sides. With a grin, he calmly walked up the tree and ploped down on a tree branch, closing his eyes and yawning before drifting off to sleep, curious what's gonna happen tomorrow and if he'll be able to see Kyuubi's container again before he leaves.

* * *

**(1)** And this is where FMA and I had a short but confusing conversation involving pancakes.

(2) Taiyogakure is the Sun Village, but it's usually reffered to as the 'Light Village'. Mitsuko lives there.

Finder77: Please **review**! I need to know if this story is good! It makes me happy when people review!


	3. Chapter 3

Finder77: Okay, onto the third chapter... If any of you readers think of a better title, something else I should mention in the summary, or some other type of impovement I could make, please let me know. I don't own Naruto.

* * *

Mitsuko woke up the next morning refreshed and ready to go. "Shaa!" she yelled as she got up and dressed. She washed her face, brushed her teeth, brushed her hair, all that crap. She skipped into the lobby of the hotel with her bag and checked out.  
"My, you're up early," said the lady at the counter.  
"Yup! Gotta go!" Mitsuko said as she raced out the door. The streets of Konoha were almost completely empty. Everyone was just starting to get up. She inhaled deeply and followed the faint scent of Kai and Dragon rolls to a large tree with deep scratch marks going up it. "Uh... Kai are you up there?" She sniffed and she was pretty sure. She ran up the tree on all four legs untill she came to the branch where Kai had decided to fall asleep. "Kai?" 

Kai opened his eyes instantly, acting like he hadn't been asleep when she'd found him, and stared at Mitsuko before yawning. "Yeah, I'm up. We leavin' already, huh? You must be pretty anxious to see Shukaku's former keeper. Is it 'cause you're worried, or 'cause you like him?" With a grin, Kai leapt off the tree and landed easily on his feet. "'Cause I know the Dog and the Tanuki didn't get along that well. Though, that stupid thing didn't get along with most of us. Kept goin' on 'bout how we should tear through all the villages and kill to our heart's content. Idiot. So, you ready?" Kai blinked when he saw some people heading through the vilage. "Hey, that blond brat talkin' to the ugly pink-haired girl. That's Kyuubi's container, ain't he?"

"Yeah, I thought we'd leave now, but maybe get some breakfast first. Why would I be worried about Shukaku's old container?" she laughed nervously. Mitsuko saw Kai leap from the tree and followed quickly afterward, causing a dent in the ground on impact. She laughed again. "Heh, so destructive... Anyways... Uh, yeah, the blonde one's Naruto, the container of the Kyuubi. Sakura's not ugly. You better not say that to her face unless you wanna get bitch-slapped. Heh, let's go see 'em! I can introduce you."  
They came up to them and Naruto was the first to notice. "Hiya, Mitsuko!" he yelled. Sakura waved. "Who's your friend?" asked Naruto.

"This is Kai. You could say I've known him for a while."

* * *

After the escape of the two... People, Azuki and Deidara decided not to go to Konoha after all. Instead, they headed towards Sunagakure, and stopped at a restuarant. After being seated, Deidara sighed and looked at the menu.  
"Lets see... Hmm... Hm... What the hell, is there ANYTHING to eat in Suna that isn't spicy?" he frowned. Deidara didn't care much for spicy foods. The only time he'd ever ate curry was when Sasori-danna had made it and insisted on Deidara eating some of it.  
"Well, how about I get the chicken curry with rice, and we can split it. That way, whatever you don't eat, I will!" Azuki clapped her hands gleefully. If you had been anyone else inthe restuarant, you would have never guessed this young girl was an Akatsuki.  
_'She's always so happy and hyper, but when it comes to fighting she's all business,'_ Deidara thought. _'Well, I guess she's just happy we're going to be back in HQ soon. She'll get to see Itachi again.'_ He sighed. It had been a long, yet boring day, and he was hungry.

* * *

The food had come and gone, and the two figures clad in black-and-red coats were once again hopping on Deidara's huge clay bird to fly away towards Akatsuki headquarters. For Deidara, it was just a place to crash and get some food. For Azuki, it was a place where she was not restricted by laws and regulations. She could see Itachi there, also. But for both of them, it was a place to call home.  
As they walked inside, they were careful not to make as much noise as last time, because everyone (Well... except Itachi) was asleep.  
First, they went to Deidara's room and dumped all their stuff in there. Azuki said good-night to Deidara, and headed over to Itachi's room. She opened the door and saw he was asleep, so she crept in silently, changed into her pajamas, and curled up next to him in his bed.  
"It's good to be home," she whispered to herself. 

The next morning, Itachi was the first one to wake up. He rubbed his eyes, and looked down to see Azuki embracing his slim figure. _'She must have got back late last night...'_ He ruffled her hair playfully, and she woke up.  
"Itachi... San... Oh, good morning," she said drowsily. She smiled and hugged him. _'I'm so lucky...'_ she thought. _'Even though I've been through all this, I've still got Itachi-san'_ He stroked her hair.  
"Are you ready to wake up yet?" he asked her, smiling.  
"Not yet... I'm not done hugging you." She closed her eyes and laid her head against his pale body. He put his arms around her and closed his eyes as well.

Thirty-or-so minutes later, Azuki and Itachi decided to get up, so they went into the kitchen. Surprisingly, it was still dark-ish out. The only other person in the kitchen was Zetsu, which meant Tobi was around there somewhere.  
"Good morning Itachi, good morning Azuki," Zetsu said, reading the paper. Azuki walked over to the stove and took out a frying pan. She was going to cook breakfast, again, because none of the other Akatsukis could cook for beans. Sasori could, but he was busy being dead.  
"Morning Zetsu," Azuki replied. Itachi followed suit. "So, what's for breakfast? I was thinking omelettes, since we're out of pancake mix." The others nodded. So she made a meat-lovers omelette for Zetsu, a bacon-and-cheese omelette for herself, and a turkey-sausage omelette for Itachi.

After eating breakfast and yada yada yada, Azuki decided it was way too boring in HQ. So she brought her PS2 out of Itachi's room, as well as a folded up DDR mat.  
And so, the Akatsukis (Sir Leader included) played DDR all morning.  
Later on, she decided to try to go back to Konoha again. She wanted to see her friends, Godaime, and everyone else. This time, however, she went by herself. Deidara stayed home and played DDR.

* * *

Kai tilted his head at Naruto and leaned closer, looking up at him. "You could say I've known ya for a while, too." With a grin, he poked Naruto's stomach like he did Mitsuko's back. "Or, I've known him for a while." Kai smirked so that Naruto got the hint, then decided to place a few more hints for him. "My name's Kai, I'm eight, an' my favorite animal's a dragon. An' I've never been caught." Kai looks at Sakura, then moves closer to her, frowning. "Your hair's a weird color, but I like your eyes. I can see why the Light Brat likes ya." With that, he turns back to Naruto, not really caring about the human friend of Kyuubi's container. "Light Brat here's sayin' we're gonna eat before leavin'. Since I haven't gotten to talk to ya yet, wanna come along? You can even bring your friend, if ya want."

* * *

After arriving in the forest near Konoha, Azuki, who was already wearing civilian clothes, walked, unnoticed, into Konoha. The first thing she did was take off her old Konoha headband, which now had a slash through it. _'No good dressing in civilian clothes if I'm gonna get caught because of this,'_ she thought. She walked towards the Hokage tower, going in through the back door usually reserved for maintenance workers. _'Pshaw. I went from being ANBU captain to sneaking in the janitor's entrance. That's sad,'_ she giggled silently to herself. She finally reached the top of the stairs, and exited through a door that deposited her right outside the Hokage's office. She peeked under the door to see if Tsunade was there. Or, more importantly, to make sure no one BUT Tsunade was there. After confirming this, she knocked once, then burst open the doors, stepping inside screaming "HELLOOOOO TSUNADE-SAMA!" with a perpetual grin on her face. Tsunade nearly fell out of her chair in surprise.  
"A-Azuki? What are you doing here?" she stuttered, standing up.  
"Well, I'm done with missions and junk, and Deidara's playing DDR, and I'm bored, so-"  
Tsunade shook her head. "Okay, I get it. Anyways, I'm sure you'll be glad to know that Naruto's back."  
"Really? Wasn't he training with Jiraiya?" Azuki glared evilly. Naruto had been one of her favorite sparring partners because he had so much stamina. Tsunade nodded. "Yep. He's back. But before that, can you get me the sake off the counter over there?" she asked, pointing to a small bottle of sake on top of a table. Azuki handed it to her. _'Same old Tsunade. Drunken idiot, and the best Hokage I've ever met,'_ Azuki thought. _'Of course, the only other one I'd met was old man Sandaime.'_ She chuckled, thinking back through all her memories.  
"It's good to be back," she said.

* * *

Mitsuko and Kai sat in a breakfast restaurant in Konoha. Naruto and Sakura had decided to come along but Naruto was still clueless as ever about what Kai had said to him earlier.  
"What would you like to order?" asked a waitress.  
"I think I'll get a ham and cheese omelette," said Mitsuko, she was apparently paying for the meal.  
"Do they have ramen here?" asked Naruto.  
"Naruto!" yelled Sakura. "I'll have two scrambled eggs."  
"Can I still have ramen?" asked Naruto.  
"Of course," said the waitress. "And what would you like?" she asked Kai.

Kai was still looking at his menu. "I'll have what she's having," he said, pointing at Mitsuko. Kai tried to get Naruto to guess what he was talking about all through breakfast. But he was still clueless. Finally, when Sakura made a trip to the bathroom, Mitsuko whispered something into Naruto's ear and Naruto's face lit up in understanding.  
"Oh!" he said. "So you're-" Kai nodded vigorusly. "Oh," he said quietly. "That's interesting. I've never met a biju that hadn't been sealed." Sakura chose then, to come back.  
"Why are you guys all quiet?" she asked. They had all stopped talking when she sat down.

"Hey Sakura, I've noticed the streets of Konoha were kinda crowded," said Mitsuko, changing the subject.  
"Well, yes, we're in the middle of Ramen-fest."  
"And what would that be?" asked Kai.  
"I think I've heard of that," said Mitsuko. "We have chowder-fest in Taiyo. We celebrate the changing season with a festival full of chowder. I do love chowder," she rambled.  
"Uh, it's basically the same thing," said Naruto. "Just different foods. It's like, my favorite time of year because they always seem to have a larger variety of Ramen during it."  
"Hm, is it new or have you always had this?" asked Mitsuko.  
"The Hokage just started it this year. I think it was a way to bring in more tourists. You know, boost the economy," explained Sakura.

"Interesting," said Mitsuko. Suddenly, Sakura realized she was late for something and had to leave.  
"I'm sorry, but I really have to go," she said. "It was nice meeting you, Kai." Then she hurried away.

Naruto, Mitsuko, and Kai had just finished with their breakfast when Mitsuko noticed something wrong. "You guys," she sniffed the air nervously. "One of those Akatsuki... They're in Konoha!"

* * *

Finder77: Well, there you have it! Another chapter courtesy of me and my RP Team. And I want to thank Liel for reviewing on the last chapter! I love receiving reviews! So please please **Review**! 


	4. Chapter 4

Finder77: Hey readers! I don't own Naruto. And I wanted to respond to a review I got from Omega Gilgamesh just to clear things up. Yes, I _do_ know that Taiyogakure isn't a village mentioned in Naruto, but it's a _fanfiction_, so I'm allowed to write up whatever villages I want. Sorry for the confusion! This chapter is dedicated to NoCareChakra. Thank you for reviewing _twice_!

* * *

Kai looked at Mitsuko, perfectly calm. "Yeah, it's one of the ones from earlier. So? The chakra's not malevolent. She's not here to kill us or anything. They're people, too, I'm sure. They got friends an' need supplies as much as anyone else." Clearing his throat, Kai sat up straight and allowed himself to look seriously at them. "I was honestly hoping that human girl would leave. I got a message to deliver, an' after this, I gotta go to Suna an' deliver it to Shukaku's former container. Seems those Akatsuki people got another one of you Jinchuuriki: The two-tailed cat. But here's the thing, there's been no verification yet that the demon's been removed. I think it's 'cause they think all the demons will be as easy to remove as Shukaku. But that ass wanted out of his container. Not all of them do, I think." Kai turned his gaze to Naruto. "I don't think Kyuubi wants out. He's smart enough, an' had enough time. He no doubt could've found a way around your seal by now. So they might be tryin' to find more biju who want freedom." Kai leans back in the seat, frowning. "Which means they'll eventually come lookin' for us. So, fox-boy, you better start talkin' to Kyuubi and work on gettin' his chakra out faster. Maybe get him to teach ya some stuff. I'll go with the Taiyo brat so you don't have to worry 'bout her. Not that she's weak or anythin'." 

"You gotta deliver a message, Kai?" asked Mitsuko. _'Hmm, nibi, a two tailed cat... Yay, I'm not weak!'_ she thought as they all got up from the table to leave the restaurant. (She paid the waitress when you guys weren't looking.)

Kai shrugged, walking along with them and looking around. "I gotta deliver the message to Shukaku's former keeper. I figure even if he's not a container, he used to be one. He might as well hear it, too. Thanks for the food. Besides, it'd look weird for you to arrive in Suna alone. A person of your standin', travelin' alone? Only a few people might be able to do that, an' from what I've seen, I don't think they'd like the idea of more jinchuriki. They didn't even like the one born there." He turns and looks at Naruto, moving closer and poking the seal again.

"Yeah, usually I travel with my siblings, my younger sister, Hikari and my younger brother, Katsuro. Even though they're younger than me, they're two of the best ninja I know. They're very well trained and skilled for their age. I wonder what they're doing. I kinda just left a note on the dining room table saying, _'Went to Suna, be back soon.'_ I'm not sure how they'll react to that," explained Mitsuko. "But not many people in Suna know I'm a Jinchuriki. What is with you and poking people?" Mitsuko asked Kai, as they arrived at the Gates of Konoha. At first she thought it was just a friendly gesture but it was kinda getting on her nerves.  
"It's not like I was poking you," he said.

With a sigh, Kai rolled his shoulders to get out any kinks left over from sleeping in the tree. "Well, that's where your seals are, right? So that means that's where the biju's chakra is. So it's the closest I can get to actually touchin' another one of the demons." Kai decided to leave out the fact that, without his friends, he had begun to feel lonely, and that when he poked the container's seals, he could feel the tiniest stirrings of their demonic chakra, and was relieved by the familiar feeling. After all, heaven forbid he admit they were actually friends. "So I came an' warned the fox-brat, an' now I get to travel with the dog-girl to go warn the former tanuki-brat. What a fun time I'm havin'." Kai turned away and looks towards the gates, in order to hide the smile that proves he actually is having fun for once. **(1)**

The two visitors of Konoha bid Naruto goodbye in their own ways. Kai turned to leave without saying much and Mitsuko gave Naruto a big hug before walking away and out of Konoha. She turned to wave before she was out of view, then ran to catch up with Kai.

Naruto could have sworn, that before Kai turned and walked through the gates, Kai had smiled. Naruto waved extra hard to Mitsuko and Kai. He hoped they'd stop by to Konoha on their way back from Suna.

* * *

Sakura had found Naruto a while after Kai and Mitsuko had left. Naruto was eating at Ichiriku's and Sakura walked over to join him. Azuki watched as she sat next to him. She turned her attention back to her stick of dango.  
_'Wow. I didn't realize I was here for the festival. I guess I could extend my stay a few more days,'_ she thought. She smiled and walked over to Naruto and Sakura.  
"Hey there, long time no see!" she said. Naruto and Sakura said, in unison, "Azuki!" she smiled at them and sat down.  
"So, I hear the two of you have gotten a lot stronger, hmm?" she asked. Naruto finished slurping up a noodle and said, "You bet! I was training with the Pervert Sennin, and I learned all this cool stuff, and-" Azuki's mind trailed off. _'He may be stroger, but he's the same old Naruto that I used to know.'_ She smiled nostalgicly.  
"Yeah, I've gotten a lot better at medical ninjutsu too, thanks to Lady Tsunade's training," Sakura said. Azuki stared at hers and Naruto's appearances.  
"So, Sakura, you decided to keep your hair short, eh? Well, it's a good look for you," she said. Sakura smiled. "Yeah, its a lot more practical to have short hair when you're a shinobi," she replied. "Of course, there's nothing wrong with long hair either," she said, looking at Azuki's long, blond hair, as it hung around her shoulders. 

Naruto spoke up, finishing his 5th or 6th bowl of ramen. "So, what have you been up to these past three years?"  
Azuki bit her lip. _'Thats right...he doesn't know that I joined Akatsuki.'  
_"Um... Well, I..." Tsunade cut her off. "She decided to leave the village, in order to be with the man that she loves."  
"What?" Naruto stared, bewildered.  
"Thats right..." Azuki said. "I left the village, or more appropriatley, I was banned from coming back here." She stared at the ground.  
"Then... How can you be here right now?" Naruto asked.  
"I helped her sneak in." Tsunade chuckled. "I guess that was stupid, huh? Aiding an akatsuki? Oh well, shikata ga nai..." **(2)  
**Naruto stared, baffled. "A... Akatsuki? You're... An Akatsuki?" he asked.

Azuki nodded. "But even so, I'm not allowed on any missions that involve Konoha. So, I can come here, but Akatsuki forbids me to cause any sort of skirmish with this village."  
"So she's safe," Tsunade clarified.  
"Oh... Well... I guess that's... Okay?" Naruto was still stunned. "So, who's this guy you left for?"  
"Umm... Well... It's... Uchiha Itachi." She blushed. She wasn't used to telling people about her and Itachi's relationship. Mainly because he was an S-ranked criminal and all that jazz.  
Naruto dropped his chopsticks in surprise.  
"Isn't that... Isn't that Sasuke's older brother! The one who killed the Uchiha clan!"  
Azuki nodded. "Yes," was all she could say. Either Naruto would hate her for it, or accept her for it. Either way, she would always love Itachi.  
"I..." Naruto started. "I... Don't truly understand how you could love someone like him... But I've always trusted your judgement, so I guess that's fine. I still hate that guy, though," he said.

* * *

Kai didn't really talk much, since he didn't have much to say, but instead decided to ask his new traveling partner about her family and past history. "So, I saw the looks people in the village gave Kyuubi's container, an' I saw the feelin's towards Shukaku's. How'd people treat you? Did they hate you because of us, too?" 

"Well," Mitsuko began her tale as she headed for Suna with Kai. "While Gaara and Naruto were shunned and hated... I was, um... Well, I was always considered a hero. It was like the fourth Hokage had wished for Naruto: Everyone treated me like a hero because I lived with the burden of the five tailed dog demon and they didn't have to. In Taiyo, everyone treats me with about as much respect as my father, Yuudai, the Taiyokage. And my birthday is pracally considered a holiday in Taiyo. It's so unfair. Why did Naruto and Gaara have nothing when I had everything?" _That's why I don't care what people call me_, Mitsuko thought, _whether it's 'light brat' or 'princess'... I deserve the insults just as much as the praise_. **(3)**

Kai watched her curiously, then looks back ahead. "That's gotta suck. If everyone treats you like that, it must be hard to find an honest person who treats you like an equal. Then there's the constant fear of, 'Are they bein' nice to me 'cause of who I am?' ya know?" Kai stretched his arms, then changed into his normal teenage form, thinking it'd be easier to believe two teens on a trip, than a teen and a child. "An' what about your family? Do they treat you any differently? I heard Shukaku's container had a crappy family who was scared of him or hated him. Or both." While Kai didn't want to bring up bad memories if there are any, he was honestly curious, since he knew that as a Biju, he's one of the few who has to answer for the actions of the others who have been sealed away, and was honestly upset at the treatment the other containers had been receiving.

"Yeah, I'm positive some of the citizens of Taiyo only treat me with respect because I'm a jinchuriki. I haven't earned everyone's respect yet. I do have some people who treat me like equals though." They had covered a lot of ground in the past two hours. They would probably be out of the land of Fire within the next few. "I trust my siblings with my life. My sister Hikari is like my best friend in Taiyo. We hang out all the time. My brother Katsuro is another story. He doesn't talk much. The only reason I know he cares about me is because I care about him. He's not one to come out and admit his feelings," Mitsuko laughed to herself. "I think you'd get along with him quite well, don't you think?"

Raising an eyebrow, Kai glanced at her. "Why do you think we'd get along? After all, we might just sit there an' stare at each other for a few hours, then decide to kick each other's ass. I'll admit, we might. I'd have to meet him to know. Is the tanuki-brat expectin' us? If not, I better find somebody with papers before we get there. Those guards can be kinda annoyin' with their whole, 'We need your papers, or you can't go in,' speech. I swear, last time I almost ripped 'em in half because they wouldn't just shut up. We can camp out for a few hours near the gates so we can take out someone an' get the passes from 'em." Kai notices the look he's getting for talking about mugging someone. "We'll give 'em back! We'll go see your little friend an' get him to give us real passes an' then we'll return the other guys. I can even do that myself so you can talk to him alone for a while, if you want. Or does bein' the Taiyo's kid mean you get special treatment from other villages, too?"

"Uh..." Mitsuko was deep in thought. **(4)** "Maybe on our way back from Suna, I could bring you to Taiyo and you could meet Katsuro. Only if you're interested though." She kept walking. "Gaara actually doesn't KNOW I'm coming but I haven't seen him in a few weeks so he might have guessed." She thought about how random this trip was. She hadn't really planned it. She was just in a mood to see Gaara. "I actually have a pass," she said. She pulled a laminated card from her bag. It had her picture and a profile etched into it. The words 'priority kunoichi' were scrawled across the top in big bold letters. "I have access to every major village. It's like ... VIP," she finished. "I think they'd let you in just 'cause you were with me." She smiled. "Being the Taiyokage's eldest daughter does have it's perks."

Kai laughs at the irony of it, then nods and grins. "Then this'll be easier. Guessin' you'll still want some alone time with your precious tanuki, so I'll see if I can't sell some more weapons while I'm here. Maybe pick up some things to last me while I'm away from the villages. I'm runnin' low on rice, an' fish tastes good with rice. What can I get in Taiyo? Cuz I might as well go back. See how people treat the dog-brat for myself, an' meet this family of yours." Kai also knew he'd have to do what he'd done before: Bow down and apologize to the Kage for the crimes possibly committed by the Biju before they were sealed away. **(5)**

* * *

**(1)** This is where _Kai19_ and I started discussing Kai's hidden cuteness. It involved squealing.

**(2)** This phrase means 'It cannot be helped'... At least, according to FMA.

**(3)** Deep down Mitsuko knows 'light brat' is more of a nickname. She was just using examples.

**(4) **Note the drool... No I'm totally kidding...

**(5)** Kai does this for the simple reason that he prefers to be left alone, not hunted down for others' problems. And yes, Kai loves his fish. He loves his sashimi.

* * *

Finder77: W00t! Yeah! I love this story. XD Please **review**! Pretty please! I'll give you a cyber-cupcake!


	5. Chapter 5

Finder77: Rock on! Yeah! Onto chapter five! I don't own Naruto.

* * *

Lotz Dominicus **(1)** sighed again. It was hot, he was hungry, his sexy tight red orange pants were starting to ride and he was pretty sure the people of Konoha he was trying to be friendly with, were trying to avoid him and answering his questions. This had been going on for a few hours now and the blonde's already short patience was running low. 

"That's it! This isn't working!"

Spying a rather high place on which to stand, he grinned in all his vain glory, spreading his arms wide enjoying the attention and anticipating the next reaction:

"I'M LOOKING FOR UZAMAKI NARUTO! BWAHA-HEEEHEE!"

_'That got their attention!'_ thought the blonde, lauging like the maniac he was.

* * *

The forests of the Land of Fire had gotten thinner and thinner until Mitsuko was sure she and Kai had passed through the border. "Okay, when we get to Suna, we'll use my pass to get in and meet up with Gaara," she said. "I'll introduce you and then you can go run off and do whatever the hell you feel like, leaving Gaara and I to ourselves." She thought this over in her head and said, "Yeah, you can pick up supplies and sell some stuff if you want. We can plan out the rest when we get there." Mitsuko thought about Taiyo. "Taiyo's an island so it does sell a variety of fish, but they're mostly ocean fish. And yeah, you can meet all the people in Taiyo if you want. I am the local Jinchuriki." 

Kai froze at the mention of different kinds of fish, and stared. "I. Am goin'. To your village." He stared off into space as he went back to walking, mind already on the different kinds of fish he might get to try soon as he followed her to Suna, knowing that if he was riding on her pass, he would have to play off as her subordinate. "Don't worry, I'll leave you to flirt with the Kazekage. Just tell him I'm in the area, an' I need to talk to him. You two can decide when to find me. I'm sure you'll know where to find me, just use the mutt's nose, okay?"

* * *

"What do you MEAN he's not HERE?" yelled the angry blonde man, slaming his hands down on the desk in front of him, "Then were the hell IS he?" 

Tsunade glared at the loud blonde in front of her, trying hard not to smack him, "He's on a mission. If you'd like to wa-"

"I didn't ask what he was DOING! Were IS he?" he snapped striaghtening up to glare down at the seated woman.

Tsunade's exspression darkened some, "I'm not obligied to say."

"Why not?"

But she ignored his question, "What is your buisness with Uzumaki Naruto anyway?"

This breifly stopped the young man's rant, "Just a social call."

"Hm, in that case you can simply wait until he returns. He should be back in about a week, give or take a few days."

"A WEEK?"

"In the mean time, please enjoy your stay. We shall inform you of his return Mr..." she trailed of in question.

"... Frank..."

"... Frank?"

"Yes! I AM FRANK!"

_'No shit...'_ thought the blonde woman nervously, _'Maybe he really is a friend of Naruto's. Blonde of a feather of or something like that.'_ **(2)  
**  
The blonde teen suddenly grinned. "Thank you for your help Hokage-sama!" He bowed and nearly beaned himself ont he desk in front of him. Tsunade watched the strange young man power walk out of her office.

"...I need a drink." She reached for her sake.

_'A week! Like hell I will!'_, thought the blonde angrily as he marched down the hall, _'There is no way I'm gonna wait that long. I'll see you tonight Hokage-sama, or not...'_ He grinned then, revealing sharp canines not noticing the looks he got from the people he passed on the streets.

* * *

Mitsuko was laughing her head off as she and Kai entered the outskirts of the desert that surrounded Suna: Wind Country. Mitsuko thought it was funny how much Kai wanted the fish. "I'm glad you're looking forward to it," she told Kai between giggles. Kai rolled his eyes at Mitsuko's behavior.  
"All I said was, 'I. Am goin'. To your village.'!" he said as Mitsuko broke out laughing again. When Mitsuko finally calmed down, they had practically reached their destination.  
"Yeah, okay," said Mitsuko to Kai's 'flirting with the Kazekage' comment. "It'll be no problem for me to find you so go where ever you want." 

Kai nodded calmly before frowning in annoyance. "I hate comin' here. Always so hot an' so dry. Why'd Shukaku have to come _here_ to cause trouble?"

"I'd rather it be hot and dry, than hot and humid any day. I don't like humidity much. I'm used to it though because I live in a humid place. It's a good place for me to be though, considering I get a large percent of my chakra from the sun," said Mitsuko.

Kai sighed and watched as Suna came into view. "'Bout time! I was wonderin' if we were gonna have to camp out overnight. After all, I forgot to get supplies. I could hunt, but it just wouldn't be fish, ya know?"

"Yay, we're here," Mitsuko said before pulling out her pass.

When they got close enough, Kai recognized one of the guards who gave him the speech last time, and glared angrily before muttering to his traveling companion. "Hey, dog-girl, you better do the talkin' an' fast, or I'm killin' him."

Mitsuko ran up to the guard and he let her in with Kai following close behind. Kai made an eloquent gesture at the guard as Mitsuko explained he was with her. It took a few minutes longer than usual, but they both got into Suna without Kai commiting murder.

Kai grined as they entered the village, liking the look on the guard's face after his gesture. "Humid means water, even though it makes the air heavy, so I like it. Now, want me to go say hi like a good little boy, or can I go try to sell some of this stuff? I got a kunai pressin' against my back, an' it's startin' to get annoyin'." Without even waiting for an answer, Kai headed for the business area of the village. _'She'll probably want to greet Gaara alone so she can no doubt glomp him. I always see girls doing that to guys they like... I hope I never get glomped.'_ He shuddered_. 'Heh, that's why I never go into villages in teenager form. I don't like taking chances.'_ Kai sighed. _'No choice, a kid can't sell weapons_.' Kai muttered, "Dammit," before finding a place to sell some of the weapons. He hurriedly sold many to the owner of the store before heading straight to the nearest sushi place and ordering a mixed plate, as well as an order of sashimi, eating happily as he ignored everyone else.

* * *

The night was warm and the sky was clear. Tsunade had left her window open that night for just this reason. The night air was crisp, clean, and smelled of the local plant life and lingering smell of dinner's cooking. _'Hm... Someones having a late dinner. BBQ maybe from the amount of smoke. Maybe a late night party?'_ Tsunade smiled and rolled over in her warm bed, breathing in the smell. After a few minutes, her brow creased. It smelled like they were burning wood. An old fashioned BBQ then? But there was a lot of it. And the smoke was getting worse, almost unpleasant.  
Suddenly the blonde woman shot up in bed. She could smell gas! Nearby, too. _'Calm down. Maybe somebody just left the faculty stove on. But why then am I only smelling it now?'_  
Quickly donning a robe, she made her way down the hallway, following her nose to the source of the smell. She breathed in again and her eyes widened. No doubt about it! There was a fire in the building!  
Following the smell, she reached the main hall were Shinobi received their missions. Smoke was slipping from underneath the door frame. Alarmed, Tsunade decided to chance it and with a strong shove, for it would not move otherwise, slamed the sliding door open and gasped, quickly covering her face.  
The whole room was on fire and spreading quickly! The heat was punishing and Tsunade backed away to alert the building.  
_'Where the hell are my ANBU?'_ and right on cue, she stumbled over the drugged and slightly burnt body of one of those said ANBU and his compainion, who did not apear to be hurt.  
Slinging one man over her shoulder and caring the other against her hip she ran down the hall to get outside, raising the alarm as she ran. All the more worried at the lack of people who responded.  
_'Were the hell is everyone!'_

* * *

Just outside Leaf's city wall, a young blonde man landed firmly on his feet, a single scroll in hand, pack slung over one shoulder. He looked back at the now very large fire and smirked proudly. _'Guess we can add Arsen to my list of fellonies, hn?'_

"Sorry Tsunade-chan, but I'm in somethin' of a hurry. Chao!" He gave a mock salute and swaggered away into the dark cover of the surrounding forest, slight song on his lips, "... Sure don't understand, I got a can of gas and I'm a dangerous man. I'm gonna burn down the trailor park... Hmhmhmmm... Shoot the pink flamingos out in the yard... Hhhmmmhmhm... Broke my heart... Mmm, burn down the trai-lor park... Burn it down..." **(3)**

* * *

"Hey Gaara!" yipped the blonde boy excitedly and recieved a sidelong look in return, "Since I'm in town, and my mission is over, you wanna go have lunch with me? Tsunade's not expecting me for a few more days. We thought the mission would be harder then that it was. Heh, wimps! Course, who could last long against the great UZUMAKI NARUTO! HAHA!"

The red haired teen just stared and waited for him to finish.

"So you wanna go have lunch together?" Naruto asked again.

"... Sure."

"Alright! You got any ramen around here?"

"I want sushi."

"Uh... Okay! Let's go! You know any good sushi places around here? Wait! They serve sushi in the friggin desert? It can't be fresh."

"They raise the fish," explained Gaara.

"Well... Okay! Sushi it is then! Yum!"

* * *

Kai ordered another plate of Sashimi, still shocked that it had been as good as it was. This time, he requested the special cuts that ensured the fish was still twitching on his plate **(4)**. As soon as it arrived, he began to eat, his back to the door and not caring about the demonic chakra nearby, already knowing who they were. Who else but two jinchuuriki had chakra like that?

Gaara took one step inside the air-conditioned building and stopped. Something wasn't right here: The presence of demonic chakra. There were his and that of the blonde beside him, but where was the other... Jade colored eyes scanned the area. Gaara was vaguely aware of the troubled look on Naruto's face when he too, entered the building and stopped dead in his tracks. Did he sense it too?

"Naruto..." Gaara hissed to his companion. The red head's brow creased at the look on his friend's face. What was wrong? Did he too sense what was wrong here? Was the presence of two other demon vessels getting to him?

"EEEWW! Yuck! That guys food is still moving! Gross!" yelled the blonde now standing right over the guys shoulder and blatently pointing at his plate.

_'Or not...'_ If Gaara had eyebrows he was sure they'd be twiching.

* * *

Meanwhile, not too far away:

"So... Hot! Ugh, and these tight but sexy and inexpensive clothes aren't helping..." complained the red-eyed blonde know as Lotz as he dragged himself throught the desert... _'Man, they need to put a railraod through here or somethin'... ugh...'_

* * *

**(1)** Lotz Dominicus belongs to Sneere.

**(2)** I'm a blonde. So don't take this offensively.

**(3) **I don't own this song.

**(4) **According to _Kai19_, this is actually possible.


	6. Chapter 6

Finder77: I don't own Naruto!

* * *

Kai stopped and looks up at Naruto. "Hey fox-boy, been what, 12 hours since I saw you? You followin' me or somethin'? Feel free to join me." Kai looked over his shoulder at Gaara. "You too, if ya want. I'll pay. The Light brat's lookin' for ya, though. So after we eat, we better go find her, if she hasn't tracked you to here by then." With a grin at Naruto, he picked up a piece of still-moving fish and popped it into his mouth, chewing happily while the other two took their seats. "Nice to meet ya, I'm Kai." He leaned closer so only Gaara and Naruto could hear him. "Glad to meet a jinchuuriki. I'm a biju. The eight-tailed dragon to be precise." He leaned back and returned to his food. "An' fox-boy, this is the way some humans eat it, too. They were the ones who came up with it, though I must admit, I have no arguments."

* * *

Lotz took one look at the Sand's city wall and immedaitly voiced his thoughts, "Holy fucking Joe! That thing is huge!!" _'Sneaking into this place may not be all that easy. I wonder if anybody will remember me?'_ he shuddered then._'I know that red-haired bastard is dead but I wonder if his son will be any better. His rep is nothin' pretty but they say he's gotten better. Heh, atta boy lil bro!'_  
This though made Lotz smile, "Alright, time ta get ta work!"

* * *

Kai had only shown Naruto his chibi form so far, but figured that the blond would recognize his chakra signature, plus when he introduced himself to Gaara, he hoped the Kyuubi-kid was listening. As he finished off his sashimi, he looked at Gaara. "Okay, first off, I gotta say the usual." With a sigh, he leveled a serious look at the Kage. "I'm really, really sorry, that ya had to put up with a biju, especially Shukaku." He sighed. "But I'm glad to hear he's gone now. Never liked him much, personally. He kept tryin' to start fights. Between us an' the humans, between us an' other demons, hell, he once tried to make me an' Kyuubi fight!" Grinning and laughing at the memory, he ignored the waitress who brought them their food, waiting until she leaves to talk again. "But here's the important part: They got Shukaku, an' they got the two-tailed cat. I heard they got ol' three-tails, but I haven't gotten any verification on it. Soon they'll probably go after the four-tails, an' then the Light brat will be in danger. I think they're workin' their way up for two reasons. One, they need all the other biju before even thinkin' 'bout freein' Kyuubi. He listens to no one. An' two, they'll need experience pullin' out biju from their containers. Start small 'til ya get better, then go one higher, ya know? But I know Nibi an' Sanbi'll **(1)** put up a fight, not all of 'em want out of their containers, I'm sure." 

Kai had left Mitsuko to sell weapons a few minutes ago. Mitsuko had been heading towards the Kazekage's place when she realized she couldn't smell Gaara in that direction. He was more towards where she'd left Kai. "Damnit!" she yelled, not caring about bystanders. She turned around immediately and followed her nose back to a Sushi place where she found Gaara, Kai, and Naruto. She made her way in quietly and stood behind Gaara waiting for him to acknowledge her presence.

Kai saw Mitsuko behind Gaara and nodded his head in her direction. Gaara turned around to get hugged by his girlfriend. "Hi Gaara," said Mitsuko. "I missed you."  
"Mitsuko," he said. "Why didn't you tell me you were coming?"  
"I wanted it to be a surprise," she answered.  
"I missed you too," he said.

"Hey, now we've got four of the nine here. Well, one's a former container, but still." With a grin, Kai snagged a piece of sushi off of Naruto's plate and popped it into his mouth, calming the boy down by offering to buy him some ramen later. "Can you believe the fox-boy followed us here? I'm thinkin' he ran, seein' as how fast he got here, when we left before him, walkin'."

"Naruto, how _did_ you get here before us?" asked Mitsuko, her arms still wraped around Gaara who had gratefully returned the hug.

Kai grinned at the scene between the couple, then pretended to gag on the fluff of it all. "Hey, Naruto, wanna go walkin' around with me while we let these two have some time alone? Doubt ya wanna watch 'em in case they start kissin' in public or somethin'. Plus, I'm sure they'd like to talk in private. We can look around for the ramen I promised." Kai allowed Mitsuko to sit down as he got up, motioning for her to order anything she wants on his tab. With a shrug, he explained to her, "He probably went on an easy mission or somethin'. Most likely just a delivery. We were walkin' nice an' slow, not really in a hurry, while he was probably movin' at top speed. Poor kid's probably exhausted."

"Okay, I'll come find you guys later," said Mitsuko.  
"Or they could just meet us back at my place," suggested Gaara as he sat down with Mitsuko.

Kai nodded at the idea. "We'll just go to the Kage's tower when we're done. If you're still busy, we'll find somethin' to do. Maybe harrass the siblings ya got there, Tanuki-boy. They should be fun to mess with." He dragged Naruto out with him, looking around. "Okay, you got a better nose than me, Fox, find your precious ramen, an' I'll pay for it. I got some extra from my sales today." With a grin, he waved to the couple before heading off with a cheering Naruto, who didn't care who was tagging along, they were buying him ramen, and that's all that mattered.

"Glad they're gone," said Mitsuko. "Now we can have time to oursel-" Mitsuko's sentence was cut off by Gaara's kiss.  
Mitsuko smiled, "What'd you think of Kai?" she asked.  
"We'll have two orders of sushi and two bottled waters," Gaara told a waitress. He wanted her gone as soon as possible. "Kai was... Nice... Giving us time alone. It's so mind blowing that that guy is a biju, you know?"

"Yeah, it is sort of ironic. He must be pretty lonely considering all of his biju friends are sealed up in containers," observed Mitsuko. "I wonder how he escaped being sealed."

"Hmm, he apologized: For all the bad things the biju did," said Gaara. "He also said Akatsuki would be after you next."

"Oh, I almost forgot to tell you. We were ambushed by a couple of Akatsuki. In Konoha," she explained.

* * *

Kai looked around with Naruto until he found the Ramen place, sitting down and letting Naruto eat as much as he wanted while he thought, not hungry after his big meal of sushi and sashimi. He was honestly curious due to the fact that some of Shukaku's chakra could still be felt inside of Gaara, but only a very small amount and so deep even he had trouble catching it at first, mixed in with some of Kyuubi's own chakra, as though Naruto had tried to give some of his to help his obvious friend. Kai ended up getting to listen to Naruto ramble on through his mouthful of food as he waited for the bottomless pit to be filled, not really paying attention.

* * *

A haggared old woman, wrapped in various shawls to protect her old skin from the sun, made her way down the bussy streets of Suna, back hunched and weighted down by the pack on her back.  
Spying a shady path between two buildings the old woman quickly sprinted in between the two.  
Once out out of view from the sun and all civilians she dropped the pack and straightened her aching back, the bones popping as the ruturned to their normal position and height.  
A tan hand reached up and quickly swiped the heavy, opressive rags from his head and gasped. He shook his spiky blond mane out twice before turning red eyes back to the streets of Suna in a glare, a small crease between his brows. 

"Damnit! Why are there so many demon vessels in one city!" Lotz growled to himself, "Fuck! Naruto, what are you trying to do? Are you freakin' TRYING to attract Itachi! Aaarrgh! Damndable brat." He continued to growl as he made his way down the other way of the ally, sheding the sweaty robes as he went. Before he exited the shady path, he found a large waste bin more then half empty and quickly dumped the dirty, sweaty rags inside along with the pack he'd been carrying. Fishing in the back of his tight red-orange jeans, he pulled out a slim silver lighter. He flicked it open and let it burn as he dropped it into the waste bin with the disgarded diguise. Within seconds it was burning high as Lotz made his way camly through the desert streets to find his crazy lil half brother, again humming to himself, "Oh, as I went out walkin', one mornin' in June! To view the fair feilds, and the valleys in bloom..." **(2)**

* * *

"You were ambushed by Akatsuki already!" Gaara said, a little too loud for comfort. Mitsuko saw the sand at her feet jump a bit.  
"Gaara, calm down. Kai was with me and we were able to fight them off easily. I'm still here. It's okay," Mitsuko said.  
"No it's not," Gaara said. "If there are Akatsuki after you they will keep coming until they get you. Who was it?"  
"It was dark but I'm pretty sure one of them was a girl, and the other one was Deidara."  
"Keh, Deidara," said Gaara through clenched teeth. He wasn't in the best of moods. "Are you sure you're okay?" he asked.  
"I'm fine," insisted Mitsuko as their food arrived. The desert was tense. She took Gaara's hand and held it in her own. "It's okay Gaara."  
"I'm just worried about you," he said as he gave her hand a squeeze. "What if Kai hadn't been there?"  
"I could have still taken them Gaara. You know I could've," she said. Even though she wasn't so sure.

* * *

Kai and Naruto walked away from the Ramen place, Kai looking at his poor money. "Naruto!" he yelled, not caring about the people stopping and staring. "How long have you gone without food!? I've never seen anyone eat so much! Even me around fish!!" Suddenly he stopped, his mind trailing off to the thought of his favorite food, eyes glazing over slightly before shaking himself out of it. "Well, we got time 'til those two are ready to put up with us again. So, what should we do with the little bit of money I have left?" 

Kai noticed some shops offering things 'only made in Suna' and ran off, telling Naruto he had stocking up to do, and tossed him some money so he could either come along or go off by himself. Kai begins to look over things to buy so he can sell them for higher prices at other villages. Hey, he had to get money somehow, right? He didn't like stealing much, and would only do it when he was broke.

* * *

After Gaara and Mitsuko finished with their meal, they walked back to Gaara's place. "How's the Kazekage job been treatin' ya Gaara?" she asked.  
"Fine," he said. "We've had an actually decrease in crime rate which is good but paperwork is a drag."  
"Heh," laughed Mitsuko, "You don't seem like the paperwork type."  
"What type do I seem like?" asked the Kazekage as he and his girlfriend walked into the large building he lived in.  
"You're more of the strong, smart, sexy type," she answered, then she kissed him. **(3)**

* * *

"He's close! I can feel it! The force is stronge with this one!" Lotz then took a deep sniff, "Why does the ramen stand smell like rotten fish!?" 

Lotz pushed that last thought aside and tried to concentrate on the source of demonic chakra. It had stopped in this location for awhile but was gone by the time he had appeared.

Concentrate...

Concentrate...

CONCENTRATE DAMNIT!...

"There!" Lotz whirled around and pointed in a direction leading away from the ramen stand and back into the baazar part of town, ignoring the looks he recieved for his outburst, "... Uh... No wait... That way." He adjusted the direction he was pointing a bit. "... No wait... Is it?.. Or?.. Maybe that way?" he turned 90 degrees in another dirction "..." and began the whinper "... Oh no... This might actually take a while..."

* * *

**(1) **Nibi is the two-tailed cat demon. Sanbi is the three-tailed turtle-like demon. 

**(2) **Starting to see a pattern here. XD

**(3)** This is where Sneere suffered cardiac arrest brought on by sever fluff trama... Or what I like to call COHAS.

* * *

Finder77: Thanks for reading. Now please **REVIEW**! I love getting reviews! 


	7. Chapter 7

Finder77: Oh yeah! Thanks for all the reviews I've been getting. I don't own Naruto. I'm dedicating this chapter to my reviewers!

Warnings: In this chapter... The story will become one that includes Yaoi. That means dudeXdude pairings! So if you have a problem with that, please don't read the story! And this chapter might get a little confusing. Sorry.

REMEMBER: DUDE on DUDE PAIRINGS, DAMNIT!

* * *

Kai came out of the store, looking over his purchases, then started looking around for Naruto, thinking that maybe he went ahead back to Gaara's tower. He blinked when he saw a familiar head of hair, but wearing different clothes and with no demonic chakra. Walking over, he tapped the guy on the shoulder. "Hey, fox-boy, ya learned how to suppress your chakra or somethin'?" When the guy looked at him, he just blinked. "Oh, you're not him. Okay, sorry to have bothered ya." Closing his eyes, he uses his demonic senses to pinpoint Naruto's chakra. "Oh, there he is. Sorry again." Kai waved at the blond before heading off in Naruto's direction. 

"...Well that's never happened before..." _'A demon vessel!..'_ Lotz sighed, _'But not MY demon vessel... Still, what are so many doing in Suna all at once? Should I follow him? No! Naruto's close! First I will find him and then I'll worry about this shit, if it becomes a problem. But where is that brat?'_

"There's only one way to settle this!" Lotz grabbed a long wooden pole on the ramen shand and pulled it free, bringing the structure it was formerly holding up down on the heads of the ususpecting costumers. Not that it mattered...

Lotz then placed the wooden object in front of him, holding it with the palm of one hand. He stepped back and the let go, allowing the wooden pole to fall flat on the ground, pointing in the direction of a single demonic chakra and one fainter one. _'That MUST be Naruto!'_

"Finally! The search continues! BWAHAHAHA-HEEHEE!"

And just like that, he was off like an insane blonde shot... In the wrong direction!

* * *

Kai blinked but ignored the mad laughter that reached his ears, finally finding Naruto and dragging him away from magazines he was 'studying to help improve his sexy jutsu'. He wasn't gonna ask what the sexy jutsu was, the name alone was enough to give him the shivers. "Well, not much else we can do now... Might as well head back to the others an' see if Shukaku's human can think of somethin'. Or we could just annoy his siblings." Sharing a grin, the two begin plotting as they head back to the tower, Kai glad to hear the blond's as big a prankster as Kyuubi had once been. 

Kai and Naruto got to the tower and headed upstairs, deciding to check on Gaara and Mitsuko before playing a prank, both freezing when they peeked in the door to find the two kissing on the couch. Both looked away, Naruto just not wanting to see Gaara making out with another one of his friends, and Kai just respecting their privacy. In all the time he'd been alive, he'd seen much much worse. Clearing his throat, he started to lead the Kyuubi-container away.

No sooner than the two demon vessels had walked out the door, there was a loud booming sound behind them and the walls shook slightly.

The couch the two teens had been making out on was overturned and where the window had been now stood a tall, tan, skantily clad, blonde youth in a giant gaping hole in the wall.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO NARUTO!- eh? hey! Your not Naruto!.. Balls of Mars!" Lotz yelled pointing at Gaara who he had heard of only by reputation and never seen before and thus wouldn't know who he was, "Aren't you supposed to be dead? Where's your son? Oh shit! YOU'LL NEVER TAKE ME ALIVE! YOUR JEDI MIND TRICKS WON'T WORK ON ME, Fool!" Lotz jumped back in a defensive stance, a insane look in his eyes.

"Ow," said Mitsuko as she and Gaara got up. "What the hell is going on?"

At the noise, Kai hurried back into the room, Naruto behind him. "Huh? Oh, you're just that guy that looks like the fox-boy." He turned to look at the person in question. "Hey, do you know who this guy is? He looks a little like you."

* * *

_5 Minutes Ago_

Lotz sang quietly to himself as he stepped over the unresponsive body of the shinobi stationed to the building across from the Kazekage's tower. Pulling a small pair of binoculars from his bag, Lotz peered through them into the window in which he sensed the demon chakra. Unfortunatly the curtain was drawn but fortunately he could still see the outline of two people on the couch... And if he wasn't mistaken, they were going at it!

_'Noooo!'_ At this point, Perverted inner Lotz and Protective Older Brother inner Lotz were having a heated debate which resulted in Pervy inner Lotz getting pimp slapped by Big Bro Lotz. _'That's it! I'M GOING IN!'_

_

* * *

_

_Back to Normal Time:_

"No. Sad to say we are not acquainted. But that'll change real soon. Right, Naruto..." Lotz purred with a leer.

"No! Not another pervert! Stay away!" yelled the younger blonde before invoking the Sexy Jutsu!

Lotz was frozen in place before it. Seeing his chance, Naruto turned and ran away. "NO! Wait damnit! NARUTO!" Lotz yelled as he chased him around.

"GO AWAY!" Naruto threw over his shoulder, and kept running.

Kai used this time to bow apologetically to the couple before going to help Naruto, using his demonic chakra to enhance his speed so he caught up to Naruto quickly, and disappeared with him. After all, the demons had to stick together, even if Naruto was only a carrier. Kai pulled Naruto with himself so they randomly appeared and disappeared in different parts of town to confuse anyone trying to follow them, before reappearing finally in the Kazekage's tower again. "Ya okay? An' before I forget," Kai smacked Naruto in the back of the head. "I didn't wanna see that!"

"What are you gay?" asked Lotz, leaning in the door frame and breathing slightly harder, "Not that I mind: Quite the opposite in fact." He leered at Kai this time with a quick wink.

"AAH! The pervert's back!" Naruto yelled and pointed at the older blonde.

"Well duh! The next time you try a move like that," he adressed Kai now, "Wait till we get a little farther from were we started. And it doesn't help that there are three demon chakra signals in one lil room. Not that it matters. Damn, boy's fast!"

Lotz walked over to a fallen chair, righted it, and sprawled in it, looking perfectly relaxed. He sighed once before adresseing Naruto again, "Okay, Let me get right to the point. I'm here to teach you Naruto."

Kai raised an eyebrow at the leer he received from Lotz, then watched him. "Well, ya don't seem like much of a threat to me. I wasn't tryin' to help out the brat here. An' what do you plan on teachin' him? An' why would you want to?" Suddenly remembering the question, Kai crossed his arms and looked away. "I prefer the term 'bi'. I'm attracted to people I respect, more than people who simply look good. That woman he turned himself into was not appealin' in the least."

"_Riiiiight_. Whatever you say, lad." Lotz grinned at Kai running his tounge over a sharp canine. "And whats your name, 'ey boyo?"

His arms still crossed, Kai glanced at the new blond. "I am Kai. Now why don't ya try introducing yourself before we just go with Naruto's suggestion of 'pervert'? After all, you're wantin' to teach him, you gotta give us a name first." His pale blue eyes narrowed. "An' since ya seem to notice our chakra, I'm telling ya now, I am NOT a jinchuuriki, do not refer to me as one. I've already had someone make that mistake, and it's annoying."

"Hmm... Hmmm... Hmmm... Okay! Kai, whatever your last name is... Shut up!" Lotz snapped before turning his attention back to Naruto and stood up. "My apologies," he said with a dramatic bow," My name is Lotz Domnicus and I am here to train Naruto so that he will have a better chance of becoming Hokage, on the request of Jiraya."

_'This is not a good idea,'_ Lotz warned himself.  
_'Nobody knows where that freak is. Who's gonna tell him? And if I have my way, he won't be going back to Leaf till I'm done with him,'_ part of him argued.  
_'Word travels fast. He may come looking for the boy.'_  
_'Then we'll just not be were he's looking!'_  
_'This will not end well...'  
_  
"What really!? Wait, Kakashi didn't say anything about a new trainer to me..." Naruto frowned.

"I showed up in Leaf soon after you left. I brought it up with him while you were away," replied Lotz, sitting back down.

"So he's okay with this? Tsunade too?" asked Naruto.

_'Nope!'_ "Yep!" Lotz smiled.

With a frown, Kai watcheed Lotz, "First, I don't have a last name. Second, do ya know who Naruto really is? Ya know everything?" Kai moveed closer to Naruto and pokeed his stomach, at the seal. "And why do you seem like you're nervous? I can't smell as well as them, but I can hear your heart poundin' like you're lying or somethin'. You leavin' something out?" The only reason Kai hadn't mentioned about who he really was, was because he didn't know how much this new person knew, and wasn't taking any chances. Yet.

"Ow!" Naruto responded to the poke to his belly.

Lotz smiked at the pensive young man, "I consider myself both excited and a little nervous to have a chance to train the Kyuubi vessel. I believe Jiraya taught you a little bit about controling and using the demon's chakra to your advantage, yes? We're going to futher that lesson a little. Also, in order to become Hokage you'll have to move up in the ranks of the shinobi as it is. And even though the tradition is so old it creeks, sword play is still among the requirments of the job. That's where I come in."

Lotz leaned back at his chair, _'I might like this Kai guy! Nah, too much like an Uchiha! Shame, he's cute.'_

Kai blinked at the information, then turned to Naruto and grinned, patting his shoulder. "Well, whadda ya know, fox-brat! You're gonna learn to use a sword!" He looked at Lotz, grinning like normal. "Since ya already know about the Kyuubi boy here, lemme introduce myself right." Kai uncrossed his arms and bowed politely. "My name is Kai, and I'm the Hachibi no Ryu, the eight-tailed dragon, one of the only biju that had never been sealed. Nice to meet ya, and I'm glad to hear you'll be helpin'. Seems these Akatsuki guys have been huntin' down jinchuuriki."

_'Specificailly Itachi. Oh, the Irony... I hit on a dragon!! Cool!'  
_  
"Never been sealed?" He asked, letting his eyes roam over the other form and smiled up at the dragon-boy, "Knew it was too good to be true. There's no way all that's narural. Unless you're one of them fleckin' Uchihas, of course." Lotz threw the name out there, jaw tightening, waiting for a reaction to the name, just to see were he stood with the Uchihas. "Awfully polite for a being of great and terrible power..."

Kai frowned and tilted his head to the side. "Uchiha? I think I heard of 'em. Heard the youngest two betrayed their villages. The idiots." He snarled in annoyance, the whites of his eyes turning black before returning to normal. "Sorry. An' yes, I try to be polite. To people who seem to be allies, at least. And until ya actually attack me, I've got no reason to think otherwise. I've lived a long time, I'm not as short-tempered as I used to be." He grinned. "An' yes, I'm all natural. Though this is just my normal human form. I prefer not to have people running and screamin' from me. Bad for my reputation, ya know." Still grinning, Kai tightened the band on his hair, and looked at Naruto. "So, you wanna train with him? He hasn't attacked us yet, so I say, if he can make ya stronger, good."

"Why are all my senseis perverts?" asked the boy sulkingly.

"Just lucky, I guess. Ya wanna become Hokage, right?" Lotz asked a little impatiently.

"Yeah! Believe it! When do we start?! " he said excitedly before a small worried look showed on his face, "... and uh... How long do you think this will take? The last time it took two years."

"That is entirly up to you, boyo," Lotz smiled softly at the boy now. It was a rather handsome smile on him, "And we leave as soon as we get outta Suna. Preferably ASAP."

"Huh?" the younger blonde frowned, "Why so soon?"

Lotz scratched his head, "Well..." He thought for a moment, glancing towards the Kazekage who was currently kissing his sandy-haired girlfriend on the now-overturned couch. It seemed the two had been pretty much oblivious throughout the conversation.

Kai looked at the two on the couch, one eyebrow raised, before turning back to Lotz and Naruto. "Lemme guess, you two are gonna go off somewhere, train, then come back when you're done, an' I get to stay here." He frowned at the idea of being stuck in a village for a long time. "Hey, Mitsuko, I guess we can stay here 'til it's time for you to go home, then I'll take ya back to your village. I did wanna try all those fish you mentioned." As his mind traveled back to his favorite food, his eyes glazed over and a small smile appeared on his lips. After a few seconds, he shook himself out of it. "What?"

Mitsuko paused for a moment with Gaara, "Yeah, okay," she responded to Kai's comments. "But first, there's something I have to finish with." She smiled, showing off multiple perfectly white canines.

Gaara suddenly realized what she was talking about. "Mitsuko, you should just let it go. Pretend it didn't happen," he suggested hopefully. But she was already standing and taking off her jacket, revealing a fishnet top with armor covering her front.

Mitsuko charged at Lotz and shot a light bolt easily from her palm that blasted him through a window and out the building.

_Damn, why isn't she my sensei?_ thought Naruto. _Well, she is a girl..._  
Mitsuko jumped out the window after the blonde and Gaara yelled, "Don't kill him! He's not worth it!" after her. She landed on the ground forming a fairly large crater and dove at Lotz who was just getting up.

Lotz managed to yell, "Oh SHI--" before he was cut off by more light bolts.

* * *

Finder77: Yeah, well I may have skimped on the editing job of this... because I did it by eye and not with spellchek like I normally do for online fics... Anyway, please review! 


	8. Chapter 8

**CHAPTER 8! **

AGAIN I will warn you that this story not only contains YAOI and other random T-rated (AT LEAST) stuff, it is also completely insane, hilariously perverted, rp-based, co-written, and awesome.

Sneere helped me with this chapter, so go her. XD (Kai19 helped with the original rp version.)

* * *

Somehow, despite the obvious aggression in the girl's movements and the warning and pleading calls from the other people in the room, Lotz had not expected and attack and was thus taking completely by surprise. His brain made a last minute connection and he moved to get out of the way of the first attack and ended up stepping right into the next, getting caught in the back of the head and passing out on the spot while still on his feet. This seemed to go unnoticed by the attacking female as she continued to wail on his unresponding body. The girl and the unconscious body of Lotz were sent hurtling out the whole the man had left in the wall and land outside several feet below where Mitsuko continued her assault.

Kai winced and watched. "Hey, dog-girl! Lay off! He's gonna help make Naruto stronger! He's on our side! Ya don't have to kill him!" With a sigh, he turned to Gaara. "Call off your little girlfriend, will ya? How can he help Kyuubi-boy if he's hurt?"

Gaara yelled to Mitsuko, "Just cause he's a moron is no reason to kill him!"

Mitsuko stops in her tracks and says, "Look who's talking." But she does stop. She climbs straight up the outside wall of the Kazekage tower and into the building through the broken window. "I can fix this," she states about the whole in the wall where the glass from the window had once been, "But maybe we should wait for Lotz."

Kai sighed and shook his head, leaping off the tower and landing lightly next to Lotz, picking him up and carrying him on his shoulder.

Lotz had regained consciousness a short time after being slung over Kai's shoulder. He grinned to himself. Why not? He'd already received a beat down he felt he didn't deserve. Why not earn it this time? Though the look in his eyes was hidden by his gold bangs his grin grew revealing his sharp canines even more.  
Course, Kai could see none of this with the young man slung over his shoulder. He could however feel a strong, firm, long nailed hand grope at his behind!

Eyes opening wide but decided it must have been an accident. He leaps back up into the window easily, setting him down on the floor next to Naruto who begins to gather his new tall and skinny sensei in his shorter arms, grumbling about being trained by some crazy pervert who got his ass kicked by a girl. It was gonna be training with Jiraiya all over again!

"I doubt he's badly hurt, but still, Light-brat. Nice temper," Kai said to Mitsuko and then turned to Gaara. "Okay, so you an' Mitsuko gonna work on gettin' her stronger? She's strong now, but every bit helps. An' Naruto's gonna be trained by Lotz. I guess I'll just do what I do best." With that, he leapt back out of the tower and found one of the trees nearby with a branch wide enough for him, and allowed himself to relax, closing his eyes. Kai drifted off to sleep, trusting Lotz with the Kyuubi-container, and Gaara with Mitsuko. He knew when they were ready to talk to him, they'd come wake him up. He had very nice dreams of delicious fish and swimming.

Back at the tower, Mitsuko asked, "A little help Gaara?" and gestured towards the window. Gaara put up a sand wall where the old window had been and with a blast of light, Mitsuko melted the sand into a smooth glass window.

"Thanks!" said Mitsuko, "Sorry about that," she said to the unconscious Lotz. "Hey, Gaara, wanna go spar?"

"Sure," he agreed. Then he and Mitsuko walked out of the room and out of the Kazekage tower, to a nearby training ground.

Gaara had picked out a nice, private training ground to spar on. "Hey, how come you didn't just HEAL Lotz?" he asked her. He knew from experience that she was able to heal just about anything.

"Ih, I thought he would be better unconscious," she said.

"That's a little scary," he said, facing her in a battle stance.

"Of course," she said. She had brought her jacket with her and was wearing it around her waist.

Gaara uncorked his gourd and Sand spilled out of it. "Why don't you use the sand around you?" Mitsuko asked, "'Cause your sand's better?"

"Of course," said Gaara. There was a moment of silence that built to tension before breaking as Gaara made the first move of his attack. He raised a hand, sending wave after wave of sand after Mitsuko. She darted them, flipping backwards and jumping. She soon got tired and turned the sand into glass instead with a series of chakra-based light flashes that each gave off a wave of heat. Gaara didn't want his Sand getting turned into glass so he quickly resorted to using the sand on the ground.

"Yaah!" Mitsuko charged at Gaara with two glass Scimitars she'd made from a specially placed light jutsu. A half-dozen Sand clones of the perfect likeness of Gaara popped out of the ground in defensive stances. Mitsuko took them out individually but aggressively with several swipes of her scimitars. She then advanced Gaara, his sand shield easily protecting him though.

Mitsuko flew backwards from the force of an impact and decided to try something new that she'd been practicing. Something she'd seen Naruto do.

She did the hand signs and yelled, "Art of the Doppelganger!" But unlike Naruto, she did not have the nine-tailed power of the Kyuubi, but the five tailed power of the Gobi. She managed to make only twenty clones.

After more than three hours of fighting each other, the two were still standing. They were tired, hot, and dehydrated, but still standing. "This is insane," said Mitsuko exhaustedly. It wasn't that Mitsuko wasn't enjoying herself, she had just forgotten a fight could last this long.

"I'm not sure if insane is the right word," said Gaara, trying not to make it too obvious how tired he was. He could barely stand.

"Then what?" asked Mitsuko as she ran directly at him. Her running was much slower now, so was Gaara's sand.

"Maybe more like--" Gaara was cut off by Mitsuko. She had moved right through his sand shield and hit him in the chest. Not as hard as she usually would have though because she hadn't used a weapon. Still: Gaara flew through the air to the ground, too tired to get up. Mitsuko only stood victorious for a few seconds before collapsing in fatigue.

Eyes opening wide, Kai sat up straight in his tree, mind going back to when he carried Lotz. He had felt the hand on his butt, but had thought the unconscious man had accidentally grabbed him, but was now wondering if it had really been an accident. Curious, Kai left his new sleeping-place and headed back to the tower, unable to go through the window without breaking it again, and went up the stairs instead to find Naruto and Lotz.

"Achoo! Ugh..." Lotz sat up and rubbed his nose. He looked over to his little brother and smiled softly. He got up and crept softly over to the boy. _'Why not? He's fast asleep and I've waited for so long just to see him...'_ Lotz knelt down and ran his fingers through the soft blonde spikes of his younger brother. So enraptured by his younger half sibling he almost didn't seem to notice the presence of his guest. Almost...  
Lotz stood up quickly, "Little late for visiting, isn't it?" _'Damn! How much did he see!? What could he want now?' _

Kai raised an eyebrow, smiling a little. "Just wonderin' if ya grope every guy who comes around, or if it was just an accident that time I was carryin' ya. But I see you're more... brotherly... towards Naruto. Ya seem to know him pretty well, for someone who's been asked to be his teacher."

_'BROTHERLY! No! No way could this guy know that if he doesn't even know who I am. Even if he had the dog-girl's sense of smell, they were only half brothers. Are scents aren't similar enough for that.'_

"Heehee, couldn't help myself, friend. It was kind of spur of the moment, ya know." He grinned and made a groping gesture with his hand, "Nice of you to come to my rescue though. How shall I ever repay such a noble deed?" he leered but then changed it to a smile, "I don't grope kids if that what got ya worried." He placed his hand in his pockets. Lotz usually slept naked, but for the kid he had donned a pair of black sweats.

Kai simply smiled. "I didn't say anythin' 'bout gropin' kids. Just didn't know what to think 'bout you grabbin' my butt. Hadn't had that happen in 'bout 250 years. People tend to stay away from me." He looked down at Naruto and frowned. "I doubt that's comfortable. Maybe we should find a bed for him? I've heard how his bad-sleep temper is. 'Bout as bad as the Light brat's. An' I prefer to keep my anatomy intact." With a sigh, he left the room for a few minutes, then returned with a grin. "Well, found him a room. Just had to make sure they didn't mind me usin' it. Wanna carry him, or should I?" Honestly, Kai knew there was more than a teacher/student relationship here, but he wasn't sure what it was exactly. He hoped to figure it out soon. Watching Lotz and Naruto would help him greatly, of course. Yeah, that was why he wanted to watch them. No, really.

_'This guy is way too smart...'_ thought Lotz as he made his way down the hall, a sleeping Naruto cradled in his arms_, 'And not in the sexy way either. This guy could be a problem. Doesn't he have a life? Maybe he has a boyfriend? But from that last comment I guess not. Unless he has a girlfriend who just doesn't like to play grab ass. 250 years...? Heehee, sexy older man. And a demon too! NO! You stupid fool! You studied demons for how many years now!? You know better then to fall for a demon. Even if it was just sex, you never go to bed with anyone who may be crazier then you are and demons should always be placed in that category. Oh but he's so...'_ he side glanced at Kai _'... uh... I want! GAH! Stop it! Your baby brother's asleep in your arms for Helen's sake!'_

"So you're spending the night with us because...?" Lotz trailed off.

Kai blinked. "Who said I was spendin' the night? I got the room so fox-boy could sleep in a real bed. Plus I was curious 'bout ya." He waited until Naruto had been put in bed before smiling at Lotz. "Now that I have my answers, I can go back to sleep. Don't wanna overstay my welcome, after all." With that, Kai yawned and stretched languidly, taking his hair down for a second and combing through it with his fingers before tying it back up, then waved to them before heading back out. "If ya need me, just come get me." He headed back out the building and to his tree, leaping back up into it and settling down, relaxing and going back to sleep.

"..." Lotz raised a hand to his nose and pulled away slightly bloodied fingers. Well, the Kazekage and his guards surprisingly didn't seem to remember him.  
Strange: The last time he had been in Suna the red heard bastard had threatened to castrate him upon return and had offered a rather large reward for his capture, dead or alive.  
He thought it might be safer now that the hated man was supposedly dead but now he found him alive and well and making out with some ugly girl on a couch! (1)  
Maybe they didn't have to leave Suna so soon. They could stay for breakfast at the very least. After all, Kai had been nice enough to pat for this nice room. Perhaps he could return the favor with some breakfast. Something with fish, if the smell of the man's breath was any hint, perhaps?

That fox's grin spread over Lotz's face before he went to bed that night.

(1) Note from Sneere: "He thinks Gaara is the previous Kazekage, whatever his name is again, in case you didn't get it you n00bz."

PLEASE REVIEW!


	9. Chapter 9 ::Lotz & Kai::

Author's Note: I'm back on fanfiction! Hooray! Hoorah! Anyway, so here's an update!

Also, warnings about Yaoi, hmm. And cracktasticness. (That was broken English.)

With more than enough Lotz and Kai for one chapter... Go thank Sneer and Kai19 if you're not rushing. Or check out their stories.

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The next morning, bright and early, Lotz had decided to let Naruto sleep in, leaving the lad a vague and hastilly written note.  
Lotz HATED mornings but the problem had been solved by simply not sleeping the night before. He did it often enough not to be overly affected by it.  
Luckily, Kai had chosen a tree close to the building his companions would be spending the night in and Lotz made his way over silently to the sleeping young man.  
Lotz crouched down in the branches near his target and studdied him with a bright grin. Heehee, Kai's hair had gotten a little messy sleeping in the tree and was falling loose from it band. _'Bed hair, kinda sexy. I wonder what it might look like after...'_ The grin grew.  
Lotz didn't know if the dragon boy could sense him and quite frankly HE DIDN'T CARE!  
Without further ado Lotz dropped himself into the older (much older!) boy's lap and yelled cheerily, "Mornin' KAI!" 

Kai's eyes snapped open, instantly awake as usual. He looked at Lotz and smiled a little. "Mornin' to you, too." Stifling a yawn with his hand, he came to a horrible realization. "Oh man, I gotta go bathe. I forgot to do it last night... Too much stuff happenin'." Honestly, he was embarrassed to no end that he forgot, but hoped he didn't look too stupid. "Ya wouldn't happen to know where the bathhouse is around here, would ya?"

Lotz blinked a moment before grining widely! "Only too well..." In fact, said baths had been invovled in the incident that was part of the reason he was afriad to come back to Suna, "Follow me, please!" He lept off Kai and lead him to a near by bath house that was conviently (for who?) empty during this time of day. It was actually not open yet but that did little to discourage Lotz who merely climbed over the fence.

Kai could easily figure out why they were jumping the fence. He had done it before. Sometimes he had to steal things, he needed to earn money somehow! Easily he leapt over the fence and landed near a pile of towels left out for customers that morning. With a grin, he grabbed one. "Thanks, Lotz. An' I'm gonna need this." He also grabbed a bar of soap and headed to the showers, stripping and taking down his hair before scrubbing himself clean. He then brushed his teeth and headed back out to the baths, his towel wrapped around his hips. "A nice hot bath. Haven't had one of 'em in a while. Usually just bathe in the rivers or somethin'. Anythin's better than nothin'!"

At this point Lotz was half already semurged in the steeming waters, hoping Kai would notice the red tinted water floating around his blonde head. _'Oh Venus, Nobody. Drop. THE SOAP!'_ Once he felt he was a little more in control of himself, Lotz completely submerged himself in the water before resurfacing. He shook his blonde spikey out, tossed his head back and allowed the golden hairs to rest against his long, tanned neck before leaning back against the low stone rim of the bath, arms spread wide.

"Hey listen," Lotz began, keeping his head tilted back and eyes closed, "I've been thinking. There really no reason to be in such a hurry to leave. I thought you might like to have breakfast. I know this nice little family owned place here in Suna that makes these great fish tacos with gadoubo soup. You want?"

Kai's eyes glazed over at the thought of fish, then he shook his head to snap himself out of it. "If it's fish, no way am I sayin' no. But I thought you were in a hurry to get outta here. Ya didn't seem to be fond of the Tanuki-boy. He's not bad, though he probably scares some humans. But he's a former jinchuuriki, so he has a reason." Kai looked at Lotz, leaning back against the side of the tub, his arms propped up on the sides. "At least he's a better Kazekage than his old man. That ass threw me out anytime I came near the place. He thought I was gonna convince the brat to release Shukaku on their village, and didn't allow fish in the village since he thought it might keep me away. And now this one's actually allowin' places to serve fish!"

Lotz blinked trying to proces all the information he had just recieved... Nope, still lost, "What? But I just saw the bastard yesterday! He was with the dog-girl, right? I didn't see no Tanuki-anythings anywhere..."

Kai raised an eyebrow and looked back at Lotz. "No, that was Gaara: The Tanuki-brat. He used to be the container for Shukaku, the one-tailed tanuki. His dad was the former Kazekage. That guy's dead now, an' so Gaara's the one in charge. He's the one who's apparently datin' the dog-girl."

After a few seconds of floundering around in the hot water, Lotz resurfaced and leaned against the stone rim. "That was his SON!?" Lotz yellped pulling his head up from bewteen his arms, "Hades's balls! He looks just like his old man! I had no freakin'' idea!" Lotz sighed but seemed to pick right up and turned to his companion. Ahh, the advanteges of haveing an extreme bi-polar disorder, "Oh well. All the better. Prehaps his son won't be such a hard ass and let me stay a little longer. Hey! Can I wash your hair? Please!?" He pleaded, giving Kai the sad kit (baby fox) eyes.

Not used to getting such an offer, Kai just blinked at him. "Ya wanna... wash my hair? Why? An' yeah, Gaara's a lot better'n his old man. He used to be a psychopathic murderer 'til Kyuubi-boy straightened him out. So I think he's more lenient." Not sure what to do, Kai turned his back to Lotz so he could wash his hair if he really wanted to, without making it too obvious. After all, if it was meant as a joke or something, he didn't want to look stupid.

"Yaysorz!" exclaimed Lotz. He lathered same shampoo onto his hands and ran it through Kai's hair, being careful with his long, painted nails and taking time to message the scalp, smiling all the while.

Kai tensed up when Lotz began washing his hair, not sure what to do or expect, not used to people doing this for him. Eventually, though, the feeling became very soothing and he closed his eyes, relaxing a little as he allowed his hands to rest on his lap, since he still didn't trust the towels provided, and would rather not make an idiot of himself, especially not in front of someone whom he just met the day before. "Out of curiosity... why are ya so happy to be washin' my hair?"

Kai appearently hadn't noticed that Lotz, vain and glorious being that he was, hadn't bothered with a towel at all! Lotz grinned happily, slightly humming to himself. Even purring a little.

"Heehee, what? You have nice hair. Doesn't your girlfriend do this for you?" asked Lotz.

Confused, Kai looked over his shoulder at Lotz. "Girlfriend? What girlfriend? I've been single for a long time now. An' even when I wasn't, they never washed my hair for me." Still a little confused, he looked back in front of him, adjusting his towel again to make sure he was still decent. "I usually just washed it myself. They didn't usually bathe with me, either, but there was the rare times they'd get up the courage to do so."

Lotz just smiled, "Really? Wow! I thought you'd be beatin' them off with a chair. So no girlfriend, huh? Why not? Any reason?" He asked, now messaging the base of the skull, _'Easy Lotz, you haven't even taken him out to eat for Athena's sake. Oooh, but he's right there in front of me...'_ Lotz nearly whimpered at his thoughts but covered it up with a purr. Kai really had nice hair and Lotz breifly entertained the thought of cuddling up with Kai's head. But at the moment it was soapy so he could wait till it was clean and dry. Lotz grinned.

Suddenly, Kai sent him a grin over his shoulder. "Very simple reason: I got tired of people just wantin' me cuz of how I looked, an' cuz of my bein' a demon. The whole 'I slept with a biju!' thing, ya know? So, I stay away from villages, an' if I have to go in 'em, I take on my chibi form. They won't mess with me if they think I'm just a kid. Though I do sometimes get perverts hittin' on me, but I can fight 'em off easily." He relaxed more at the massage he was getting, a pleased purr-like sound coming from him.

_'I hadn't even thought of that...'_ Lotz frowned a little, _'Is that what I'm doing? No, I know better then to be attracted to demonic power...'  
_  
_**'And yet you're still feeling one up?'**_ part of him said sarcastically.

_'SHUDDUP!'_

**'So are we?'**

_'Huh? Just hitting on him 'cause he's got a nice bod'?'_ Lotz let his eyes roam over the young man in front of him, _'Maaaaybeee... heehee...'_ Lotz grinned and then frowned a little at the thought . _'Oh, who cares! It's not like I'm asking him to marry me!'_ Lotz smiled again at taking the excuse of washing the top of Kai's head to get the him to lean slightly into Lotz's tanned chest, snuggling the dragon-boy just a little bit.

"But what do you do if they DO hit on you in chibi form?" Lotz teased, "That ever happen to ya? I bet ya make a cute kid."

"... Are you purring!?" Lotz asked excitedly.

Kai laughed, his eyes closing as he leaned against Lotz, relaxed and still making that quiet purring noise. "It does happen, like I said, I do get perverts messin' with me when I'm like that. I outrun 'em if I can, usually after makin' sure they're hurt too bad to follow me. Sometimes, if I wanna just shock the hell out of 'em, I turn back into this form, or even my slightly demonic form, an' they run screamin'." Kai realized what was just asked, and blinked, a slight blush appearing. "An' I'm not purrin'! I don't purr." With that, he tried to force himself to stop making the purring noise.

"You are! HAHAheee!" Lotz grined at the other males discomfort, "Awww... don't be like that!" Lotz gave him a slight hug of reasurance... REALLY! That's all it was! "I think its cute," Lotz said and then started purring a little himself. He then returned to washing the ends of the hair, "OK. So you've had a few girlfriends. What about men? Any boyfriends?" Lotz asked causually.

Kai relaxed again, after tensing up from the hug, not used to receiving them, the quiet purr returning. "I said I'd had lovers before, I never said they were all women. I've had a few male lovers. My last one was male, actually. Women got on my nerves so easily. Ya sleep with 'em, an' suddenly they expect ya to do anythin' they want ya to." With a shrug, he smiled and tilted his head slightly so Lotz got a spot that caused him to purr slightly louder and shiver a little. "Sorry, that felt good, couldn't help myself."

"Oh, don't be sorry! It's my pleasure!" Lotz said, trying to keep the leer out of voice. "So which do you prefer?" Lotz asked, looking for that spot again. _'Found it!'_ Lotz grinned. **(1)**

With another shiver, Kai leaned into the touch, purring still and smiling. "I prefer men, I think. They can protect themselves, they don't cling to me every second of the day like women tend to do, an' they don't expect me to do stuff for 'em all the time. So I try to avoid women completely when in this form. That's why I'm glad I haven't had to put up with many women in this village."

Lotz grinned like the perv he was, "That's nice to know, friend. But not really what I meant when I asked what you prefered. If it's not too personal. Here, lean your head back in the water so I can wash the suds out."

Kai blinked over his shoulder at Lotz in confusion. "Then what did ya mean when ya asked what I preferred?" Kai allowed himself to be moved around, but ended up leaning forward so he could make sure to get all the suds out, due to habit and not really thinking, too busy trying to figure out what Lotz meant, but still watching him.

Kai bent forward, denying Lotz the chance to run his fingures through the man's hair but make up for it with a marvolous view of his not quite concealed dick. _'Give me strength!'_

"What I meant, lad, was do you prefer to uke? Or seme?" Lotz smiled slyly.

Surprised, Kai straightened, his hair mostly rinsed out. "Well, I don't mind either, but I suppose I prefer bein' the uke. I mean, I make all my own decisions an' have total control all the other times, so I guess it's nice not to have to be in total control for once. So yeah, uke." Annoyed with the soap still on the top of his head, Kai started cupping water in his hands to pour over himself.

_'He took that rather well...'_ Lotz smiled, walked up to Kai with a wet towel, and finished washing away the remaining suds on top. "Heh, you have nice eyes," he said looking the other in the face, "So how longs it been since... you know?" He wiggled his blonde eyebrows.

Kai smiled at Lotz when the suds were gone. "Thanks. For the help an' for the compliment. An' as for how long... well, let's see... about 17 years. It would be longer, but there was that one time in the woods with that guy..." With a shrug, Kai grins. "I was seme that time, though. How about you? Ya got any current lovers? With your looks, I'd be surprised if ya didn't have a few of 'em in different villages, waitin' for ya."

That sly smile was back on Lotz face again, "Nothin' worth mentioning. But I'm workin' on it. And thank you for the flattery."

Lotz left the towel on Kai's head and stepped back some. He took a glance up at the rising desert sun and decided it was time to go. Lotz stepped out of the bath in all his bronzed naked glory, not even thinking about the clear view this gave the dragon-boy. But it was only fair really.  
Lotz grabbed a towel but instead of covering himself up he used it to dry his wild blonde hair. He slung the towl over his shoulders as he looked over at Kai.

"So? Breakfast? My treat." Lotz smiled.

Kai looked up at his face, trying to appear that he hadn't been staring, and nodded. "Sounds good to me. After all, ya promised me fish." At the reminder of his favorite food, he climbed out of the baths and back over to the pile of his own clothes, removing the towels (not really thinking about it) and uses a fresh towel to dry off, his back to Lotz, before pulling on his pants, proving that, yes he does go commando, before turning back to Lotz, still shirtless and combing out his hair. "So how far away is this place we're goin' to? Do you think it'll be open by now?"

Lotz, who was by now alread dressed, really he didn't wear much aside from the jewelry used to take up space on his arms, neck and ears, and stood waiting for Kai. _'He has. No. UNDERWEAR! Oh Loki. If I could just get my hand down- NO! Focus! Besides, it's not like you don't go commando all the time.'_

_**'Yeah, but I've never wanted to jump my own ass before.'**_

_**'So what? You plan to jump yourself in the near furture.'**  
_  
_'I play my cards right and we wont have to now will we...'_ **(2)**Lotz turned around to hide the evil smirk on his face.

He placed his hands in his pokects and started walking off. "No, it's not far, and it should be open by now." He answered as they began walking down the strees as people began coming out of their homes. The sun wasn't up yet and the air was fairly cool but promised an intense heat later on so many were going to take advantege of it while it lasted.

As they walked Lotz glanced over at Kai, "So what do you do? For a living I mean. Are you a ninja?"

_'I wonder if Naruto's awake yet?'_ Lotz's eye glazed over some and his features softened just thinking about his little brother who he would finally have with him,_ 'And instead of spending the morning with him I'm out hitting on a freakin' demon! A DEMON!'_

Kai shook his head, walking along by Lotz calmly. "No, as a biju, I'm not allowed to join any village, let alone learn jutsu. I can't be a ninja. So, I simply travel around, sellin' things I find in other villages, like weapons and such. It's not much, but it's somethin' to keep me from bein' bored. Once the boredom sets in, it's only a matter of time before ya go insane, an' I like my sanity intact." Glancing at the tower, he grins. "I'm guessin' after breakfast you're gonna go start the fox-brat's trainin'? He should be up by then. I heard he likes to sleep in. Ya can even stop an' get him some ramen. He'll be your best friend for life after that." He smiles at Lotz before looking at the place he led them to, eyes glazing over slightly at the idea of fish.

"That's okay. I usually like to sleep in too. But we'll worry about that some other time. Look, there's the place," he said pointing ahead.

They walked into a samll restruant with a sailors theme despite the lack of ocean in the desert," Here, let me order. I promise you'll like it. Shoot me if you don't."

While they waited for their food, Lotz looked across to the dragon-hottie in front of him and placed his elbows on the table and his head in his hands, "So? You ever steal anything?"

Kai laughed and blushed a little. "Well, yeah. I've had to before. I'm not an endless supply of money, after all. As a biju, I don't really need it. But I need somethin' to keep me busy. Plus, I love the thrill of the chase if they try to catch me. I can't help it. It's in my blood. Run, hunt, fight, kill. I gotta do it sometimes."

Kai looked excited when the food arrived. "I knew I could trust ya! Ya made some really good choices!! I really owe ya for this one!"

Lotz was careful to hide the suddenly evil smile behinde hands and gold bangs, _'This is just TOO perfect. I'd almost beleive he really was a ninja. Or at least gettin' paid for this...'_ Lots looked up then and the evil, greedy look from before all but melted. He was stuck somehwere between nervousness and amusment at the look of pure joy as Kai enjoyed the seafood dishes. It really was good food but... _'He's kinda like Naruto and his ramen...'_ Lotz was completely unware of the kind smile that made it way to his face.

"Hey! Save some for me! Oh, never mind. Waiter, another oder of... everything I just ordered, pretty much. And some of your special salsa while your at it." He turned to Kai," You gotta try this stuff with the salsa. Toni does wonders with the stuff. Bastard still won't tell me what."

"So, what do you usually do in your spare time. And how do you know my- know Naruto?" Lotz asked.

Kai grinned up at Lotz from his food, licking his lips to make sure he got the last bits of flavor before speaking. "In my spare time, I travel, swim, check up on the containers, those kind of things. An' that's how I know the fox-boy. Me an' Kyuubi used to know each other, so when I found out he got sealed up, I decided to see the kid for myself. Kept him from drownin', too. Apparently some sick fuck from the village had the whole _'kill the demon'_ idea an' tossed him in the river. I got him back, though. He still runs away screamin' from any body of water he sees...

"An' ya don't have to hide it, I picked up on the hints. I won't tell anyone, though. Ya probably gotta reason for keepin' it secret. An' it's not my business, really. So long as the kid stays alive, I'm good." Smiling, Kai went back to his food. "An' I really do owe ya for the food. Just name it. An' if this salsa's as good as ya say, I might end up havin' to owe ya double!"

Lotz's expression darkened, "...How much have you figured out? Ah! Speak of the devil! Here's the salsa. Can I get some whisky too, please? In a glass. Thanks, sweetness." He winked at the waitress, before turning back to the dragon-boy.

_'Fuck! What does he know and how!? Heh, like I was subtle. But still...'_

Kai sighed and began to talk quietly, wanting to respect Lotz's privacy. "How ya act around him when ya think no one's watchin', the way ya carried him last night, the fact that ya seem so eager to train him, ya look so much alike, an' that slip-up just now confirmed it. Like I said, not like I plan on tellin' anyone. It's between you an' him." Deciding to try the salsa, Kai's eyes widened slightly. "I do not owe ya double. I owe ya triple!" Kai smiled happily at Lotz, but made sure not to devour the salsa out of respect for the other.

Lotz leaned back in his seat, "You saved my little brother, for that I owe you alot," He smirked then, "but I may hold you to that last one. So... you ever skip on a bill?" He asked while admiring his black painted, long nails.

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**REVIEW, PLEASE!!**

**(1) **This is where Sneer mentions, "Is it me, or does Lotz seem a bit saner around Kai?" And Kai says back, "Yeah, he does... and Kai seems more relaxed and talkative. Weird, huh?"

**(2)** Sneer says, "FYI, extrme bi-polar disorders often result in a mild version of schizophrinia called schizo-technical. So thats why Lotz thinks in first, second, and third person. Sometimes all three, and has conflicting priorities and interest."


End file.
